BARLEY COLD SALAD

Complete meal or appetizer - vegetarian and lactose intolerants safe (see notes at the bottom)

1 cup Italian barley

7 oz cheese (provolone, pecorino or any other cheese you like), diced

8 oz turkey or chicken breast, diced

2 small zucchini

2 medium ripe tomatoes, diced

2 anchovy fillets

1/2 lemon

6 tbsp extravirgin olive oil

Rosemary, sage and garlic (for the breast)

Boil the barley for about 40 minutes in lightly salted water, drain and chill it.

Steam the zucchini until you reach the desired doneness, then dice them and set aside to cool.

In the meantime, sautee the meat in a non-stick skillet with 1 tbsp of oil, chopped rosemary, sage and garlic for about 10 minutes, or until cooked through. Set adise to cool.

Arrange barley, cheese, meat, tomatoes (with their juice) and zucchini in a bowl, then prepare the seasoning.

Blend together the remaining oil (5 tbsp) with anchovies, lemon juice, salt and pepper; drizzle over the salad and toss to coat well.

Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

This recipe serves 4-6 people.

- You can serve this dish as a complete meal, as appetizer, as entree, as your fantasy suggest you.

- You can add capers and parsley to the seasoning, if you like them.

- This is a really versatile dish: lactose intolerants can avoid cheese and use hard boiled eggs or shrimp, vegetarians can use eggs instead of meat, you can add as many vegetables as you like: bell peppers, cucmbers, celery, shredded (or boiled and diced) carrots, peas..... there's no limit.

- You can use farro instead of barley, or a mix of the two (cook them separately because they have slight different cooking times).