Convention Foods LOCKED

I made a nice barley chicken salad for a(nother!) baby shower here at work:

Balsamic Chicken & Pearled Barley Salad

In a large oven-proof dish, place 4 large chicken breasts (bone in, skin on), skin side up. Slip sprigs of fresh thyme under the skin, being careful not to break it (or you could just place the thyme on top). Cover with about 1/2 c. balsamic vinegar, making sure some adheres to the top of each piece. Sprinkle with salt & pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Halfway through the cooking, turn the breasts breast side down, so they absorb the vinegar. Bake for about 45 minutes at 450 degrees, or until a knife inserted in the thickest part produces clear juice. Remove from baking dish and let cool.

Meanwhile, prepare the pearled barley. Rinse it 2-3 times, or until the water is mostly clear. In a large stock pot, cover with a generous amount of water and about 3T of salt. Set on high heat and boil for about 45-50 minutes, or until tender.

Drain the barley well, but do not rinse it. Transfer to a large bowl. While still warm, grate the zest of and add the juice of one lemon directly into the bowl. Toss to coat.

The chicken should be cooled by now. Remove the skin and pull the meat off the bones. Cube or roughly chop into about 1/2 inch pieces (or shred it, if you want to). Add to the barley.

Dice about 3 bulbs of fennel into 1/4 inch cubes. Mince about 3 t. garlic.

In a large pan, heat about 4 T. olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, or until fragrant and rising to the top of the oil. Add the fennel and about 1 T. salt, and saute for 5 minutes, or until only slightly softened but still crunchy inside.

Add the fennel mixture to the barley mixture.

In a small bowl, combine about 2 T. good balsamic vinegar, 4 T. olive oil and 1 t. fresh thyme to make a vinaigrette. Add the vinaigrette to the salad and toss to coat. Add more lemon juice and salt to taste.

I like the idea of using barley because it's so healthy for you. Pearled barley has a nice consistency, so it's filling, but won't weigh you down; perfect for convention lunches!

Yeah well a nice chicken ceasar salad is a nice little lunch at the convention as long as it's not too big a salad. Totally hits the spot for me usually.

I always keep it very simple and light. For some reason I don't get very hungry at conventions. AND afterward I generaly get a nice big dinner somewhere. I go for a chicken salad wrap, apples and peanut butter, arizona green tea and water. And bring some yummy gum. but, you're right about Webby's choices. always freaking delicious.

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wow all those suggestions are great, im gonna use them too when i go the sunday convention in 2 weeks!!

i always do breaded chicken cutlet sandwhichs & chicken salad...w/ lots of apple and celery in it!

I usually do a salad wrap with grilled chicken and dress it up with whatever feels right.

peanut butter! you can eat it on anything-bread, crackers, chocolate rice cakes, triple threat or fruit and nut power bars. or if you go the salad route, have some trail mix. peanuts always give me energy-i practically live on them when i need high energy days.

Peanutbutter and apple sandwiches!

I usually do:

Pasta Salad
Fresh Mozzarella sandwiches.
Fried Chicken sandwiches.

The third is self-explanatory, and something my dad always used to make me for a treat, so I save it for sunday - it gives me something to get me through the morning.

The pasta salad I did this year is something I made for a baby shower - I think I posted the recipe on here somewhere - /forum_threads/show/4253

It worked really well omitting the shrimp. It was cool yet filling, but it didn't make us sluggish.

The fresh mozzarella sandwiches are a little bit of a pain because you have to assemble them there. I took this recipe from a market in NJ.

Thickly slice fresh mozzarella and put it on a crusty country roll. Top with roasted red peppers and fresh basil leaves. Put a little balsamic viniagrette on the other side of the roll (2 parts olive oil, 1 part balsamic, salt, pepper, oregano) and voila! For the convention, I pre-cut the rolls, preslice the mozz (but leave it together in plastic wrap), pull a few basil leaves off a plant and put them in a plastic bag, put the dressing in a tiny tupperware container (surrounded by a bag for safety) and put the peppers in a tiny container. Of course, this might be hard with a little boy. I also pack wax paper for our laps because dripping the dressing is inevitable.