Mediterranean Barley with Chickpeas and Arugula

    My April magazines are starting to arrive, which means lots of new ideas and things to try.  I tagged several pages in the latest Cooking Light.  I tossed this one together in just a few minutes this morning before church thanks to my mom lending me a few ingredients I was missing last night.

Mediterranean Barley with Chickpeas and Arugula

Ingredients
1 cup uncooked pearl barley
1 cup arugula leaves
3 tablespoons of chopped sun dried tomatoes (I use the dry kind and just boil them a little before using)
1 can of chickpeas
Juice from 1 lemon
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
2 tbsp chopped pistachios

Method
1. Cover barley with water in a pot.  Bring to a boil and then simmer for 20 minutes.  I threw my sun dried tomatoes right in with the barley for about 5 minutes.
2. Combine the cooked barley with arugula and sun dried tomatoes in a bowl.
3. Whist together the lemon juice, oil, crushed red pepper, salt, and pepper.  Drizzle over the barley mixture.
4. Sprinkle with pistachios.

The Taste Test
    This recipe also called for chopped red bell peppers, but since I don't like peppers I left those out.  I really like the chewy texture of barley.  There is a lot of flavor in this simple dish and it's very filling.