Wednesday's Woes   "Barley and Glass Salad"


It was so delicious!  I know barley doesn't exactly conjure up thoughts of culinary excellence or excitement...to me, if falls into that vague class of food stuffs that we imagine being cooked into some beige, glue-like gruel and served from a rusty cauldron to the orphans in a Dicken's novel, right?  Well, on Monday afternoon I transformed this pauper's porridge into a side dish that even Giada DiLaurentis would proudly serve!  With a little effort (and fresh herbs!), even the humblest of things can be turned into something simply lovely.  A great and basic revelation to any cook!


Cooking barley requires patience...in fact, barley could give tea a run for its money in the steeping category!  Like tea, it requires only the infusion of water, but it needs about 40 minutes of your watchful eye and spoon.  But I was determined to make this delicious and healthy sounding recipe...it would be worth it.  And I was right.  An hour or so later, I had a very large bowl of beautifully fluffy barley, quinoa grains, scallions, Bermuda onion, crumbled goat cheese, olive oil, lemons, pepper, and best of all....the biggest and best leaves of mint and parsley that I had snipped from my herb pots...the crowning touch!  It was really good...try it!  But if you do, be sure to leave one ingredient out!


After dinner, I was unloading the dishwasher and was holding three glasses on their way to their shelf.  One slipped from my hand and landed on the counter, literally exploding exacting in front of the bowl of my blissful barley salad!  I have never seen a glass break like this...there were some large pieces, but mostly it looked as if someone had been  cutting diamonds on my formica!  One and two karat crystals and a fine diamond dust were everywhere!  Then the realization...my salad!  Ruined! All my work, time, and those perfect mint leaves...wasted, all wasted!  And my plan to have it all set for lunch and dinner for the next couple days...smashed to smithereens!  I was so mad, mad at myself for rushing (per usual) and trying to carry too much.  I heard that old adage ringing in my head, "Haste Makes Waste!"  I felt a sudden and irrational hatred for Ben Franklin, or whoever it was who said that.  Then another voice chimed in...mine!  Here's what it said: "Whoa!  This is most definitely NOT a woe!  Stop it!"  I'd like to say that it ended right there...but honestly, there were a couple minutes of complaining and whining and real regret before I let it go.  We are such stubborn creatures! (For a minute, I even considered keeping it, giving it a good look over and taking my chances!)  I had to silently talk myself into accepting that my salad was not to be saved.  I looked at the strewn glass and that is what talked me out of it...it made me think of how quickly anything can be shattered.  I thought of how many people that day, as I happily stirred my barley, had the peace and "the  plan" of their lives shattered in one way or another...the loss of a loved one, the loss of a job, the dreaded bad news from a doctor...all of which can happen in the second that it takes to drop a glass.  And it isn't just Wednesday that's full of woe...this happens to people everyday,  everywhere.  We know it does, we just don't think about it enough.


So, yes...WHOA!  Stop bemoaning the loss of your salad, your plan, I scolded myself.  It was crystal clear....how could I complain?  I couldn't.  And while it doesn't make for a very humorous story now, it did RE-teach me a lesson that we must constantly try to master!  To me, it's an essential ingredient to the great Recipe of Life.


Thanks for reading.  Let it steep!