Recipe: grilled avocado barley bowl with Lakeland

Lakeland got in touch to see if I wanted to try out the new Davina McCall range and test them out with a recipe. Always one for kitchen equipment, I said yes and soon a parcel arrived. Consisting of a pair of kitchen scissors, crinkle cutter, grater, peeler and a pairing knife, they were the perfect addition to my kitchen. I decided it was time to try out a recipe from one my favourite cookbooks at the minute, A Modern Way To Cook by Anna Phillips - the recipe called for most of the items to be used. So what did I think? I loved the bright colours as I think aesthetics are everything in a kitchen, they felt sturdy to withhold my clumsiness and were simple and quick to use whilst preparing a meal. Who has time for complicated equipment on a week night? The price point is great too - good quality at a really reasonable price.

Serves 2 with leftovers for lunch

Ingredients
1 large avocado
300g pearl barley
1/2 bag of baby spinach
50g chopped walnuts
Zest and juice of one lemon
100g feta cheese
200ml plain fat free Greek yogurt
A handful of roughly chopped fresh basil
A few pinches of sea salt
A pinch of black pepper

Method
1. Rinse the pearl barley under cold water then boil it in a saucepan. Include a good pinch of sea salt, the juice of half a lemon before putting the squeezed lemon half into the pan too. Cook for around 25 minutes.

2. Cut the avocados in half - leaving the skin on but discarding the stone. Put them cut side down in a griddle pan and cook until they have black griddle marks.

3. To make the yogurt sauce, mix the chopped basil leaves with the zest and juice of the remaining half a lemon. Add a good pinch of sea salt and pepper for some extra flavouring.

4. Wilt the spinach in a frying pan.

5. Once the pearl barley is cooked, drain away the water and crumble in the feta cheese and chopped walnuts. Add the wilted spinach to the dish and mix it all together.

6. Divide between two bowls - remembering to keep some aside for lunch leftovers! Top with the grilled avocado and spoon on the yogurt mix.

As always I'd love to know if you try this recipe out, drop me a tweet to let me know!