Steel Cut Oat Salad

If you are tired of your usual salad, either of fruits or of veggies, and find yourself adding more nuts and seeds to them than you should in a quest for texture, than I am going to give a solution. I really love barley salads, primarily because of the texture. Barley can take a while to cook though and the prep of cleaning it can be tedious to some, especially if you want something fast. When I saw a recipe for a salad with barley, I really wanted to make it, but I didn't have barley so than I came up with an improvise: using steel cut oats. If you don't know what they are, steel cut oats are a form of oatmeal but they have texture, similar to that of barley. It just so happened that my dad had some left over from breakfast in the fridge, so I got creative:P To make this salad, you'll need
 (snack sized salad; use 2-3 times as much for a regular salad)

1/3 cup steal cut oats
1 cup water
1/2 a head of romaine chopped
2 peaches or 1 large california peach
1 cup blackberries
2 cups green grapes
Balsamic vinegar

First, pour the water into  pot, and once it has reached a boil add the oats and cook for 20-25 minutes. When they are done, set aside in the fridge to cool. Next, chop up the salad and fruits adding them all together in a big mixing bowl. Take out your oats and break it apart into chunks and add it to the salad. Toss with vinegar or dressing of your choice.

Enjoy,
Julia