When life gives you an abundance of cucumbers, you need to start getting creative with those cucumbers. A person can’t live on salads alone. At least not this person. And since it also happens to be butternut squash season, I came up with this awesome butternut squash barley bowl.
Not only does this delicious one-bowl meal have cucumbers, it also has corn and avocados. It’s sweet, savory, and crisp — just like the end of summer and beginning of autumn.
It’s also crazy easy to make.
Try it out and let me know what you think!
Butternut Squash Barley Bowl
Serves 2
Ingredients
1/2 cup barley plus enough water to cook it (about 1 cup)
1 Tbs coconut oil (olive oil is fine, too)
2 cups butternut squash, peeled and cubed (small cubes just slightly larger than a pea)
1 cup corn, fresh or frozen
1/2 large cucumber, peeled, quartered, and sliced into thin pieces
1 avocado, chunked
dressing
2 Tbs red wine vinegar
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
Directions~
Make your barley in advance. I usually do this in the morning and let it sit until I’m ready to eat. Barley takes about 30-45 minutes to cool and fully absorb all of the water. Directions here, just in case.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Coat the butternut squash with oil and place in the oven for 10-15 minutes, or until easily pierced with a fork.
In the meantime, steam the corn if frozen, just about 1-2 minutes.
Once the butternut squash and corn are done, combine the butternut squash, corn, cucumbers, and avocado with the barley. Add in the dressing and a little salt/pepper if you think it needs a little more flavor.
Enjoy your butternut squash barley bowl immediately!
