Arugula Barley Salad with Lemon and Parmesan

This macro-friendly arugula salad with lemon and parmesan is so fresh and filling. I know you are going to love it as much as I do.

Prep Time35

Course: Bowl, dinner, Lunch, Salad, salads

Cuisine: California, California Fresh

Keyword: arugula, barley, chicken, healthy, lemon, light, macro-friendly, parmesan, salad

Servings: people

Calories: 452kcal

Ingredients

1 heaping cup rotisserie chicken breast*
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp paprika
1 cup cooked barley (or farro) 145 g cooked weight**
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved (150 g)
1 cup apples, diced (110 g)
1/2 cup good shaved Parmesan Romano (40 g)
1/4 cup red onion, diced (40 g)
2-3 Tbsp fresh basil leaves, chopped (6 g)
1 Tbsp lemon white balsamic vinegar* (or sub any balsamic)
1/2 Tbsp fresh lemon (optional if you’re using the lemon-infused vinegar)
1 tsp olive oil (5 g)
3-4 cup arugula (110 g)
2 Tbsp roasted pistachios (14 g)
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

If using basic rotisserie chicken breast, pull it apart and remove any gross stuff! Shred with your hands and chop a little if you like shorter pieces. Not too much, you don’t want it to feel like canned chicken. Heat a pan with a mist of olive or avocado oil spray until it’s nice and hot. Season your rotisserie chicken with the salt, pepper, garlic and paprika and throw it in the hot pan without stirring for just about a minute until fragrant. Flip and let cook for just another minute or less. Remove from heat and let cook a bit. (You don’t want to cook this so long that it tastes like re-cooked chicken. Just enough to bring the seasoning to life and give the chicken a little face lift.) Skip this step if you’re using a yummy grilled chicken etc!
In a large bowl, toss together your slightly cooled chicken, barley or farro, tomatoes, apples, parmesan, red onion and basil. Drizzle with vinegar, lemon, and olive oil. (If making ahead, you can store this in the fridge and toss with the arugula later.)
When ready to eat, toss with arugula, and top with roasted pistachios and salt and pepper to taste. Split into two bowls. Enjoy!

Notes

Chicken: I used store-bought rotisserie chicken breast for this but use whatever you like! If you use an already seasoned grilled chicken etc, just skip step one and the added seasonings listed just after chicken.

Barley: I just like to cook a bunch of barley or farro to throw in other salads all week, so I’d just measure out a cup of the cooked grain. (Brown rice works too!) But if you don’t want any left over, you’ll want to cook just about 60 grams of raw farro or barley.
Vinegar: I absolutely LOVE my fruit infused vinegars and use the lemon one for this. I get mine at Baker and Olive which is a local store for me but they do sell online! You might see if you have any local olive oil shop where you could find some. They add SO much to my salads, but if you don’t have a special lemon vinegar, just use your favorite white or dark balsamic vinegar and add a squeeze of fresh lemon.

I also like to serve this on top of even MORE arugula if I want dinner to last forever haha.

MFP: “Lillie Eats and Tells Arugula Barley Salad with lemon and parmesan”

Nutrition