After a long winter in the Midwest, nothing tastes quite as good in the summer as a big, fresh salad made with the best produce. You know I love a big platter of fresh strawberries and avocado with fried goat cheese.

And when you have great vegetables from your garden or a farmer’s market, a “salad” really needs to be very little else beyond slicing, piling things onto a platter and drizzling with citrus salad dressing.

Many of us normally think of beets as more of a winter vegetable. But since they’re my favorite vegetable, I’ve found that they can transition right into warmer weather too, especially when they are paired with tomatoes.

This summer beet salad recipe makes a star out of fresh produce and herbs, with just a little bit of barley for added texture and fiber.

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I really hit my stride with epic farmer’s market salads in late July and August. It seems like ALLLLL the good things are in season, and everything is juicy and colorful to the max.

A “salad” becomes very little else beyond slicing, piling things onto a platter and drizzling with some olive oil and maybe a little lemon juice, or my citrus vinaigrette or creamy feta dressing if I feel ambitious.

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After many years of experimenting and discovering that the risotto cooking method works for not just arborio rice (hello, coconut risotto) but just about any grain, I make whole grain risottos for dinner quite often.

Especially in the winter, when nothing is more comforting than a big, hearty bowl of grains.

I’ve conquered steel-cut oat risotto and farro and kale risotto.

The time has come to let my slow cooker do some of the work with this Slow Cooker Barley & Chickpea Risotto.

Of course, since the “risotto method” refers to stirring small amounts of hot stock into rice or grains gradually, this recipe isn’t a true risotto. I know that.

But I’ve found that using a slow cooker allows the barley to slowly simmer in broth, and the end product is very similar to barley cooked using the traditional risotto method.

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