A perfect corn and barley salad that has freshly charred corn on the cob, nutty barley, salty feta cheese and freshly grilled shrimp in a lime vinaigrette.
Toast the walnuts in a small sauté pan over medium heat, tossing often, until golden brown and fragrant, 3 minutes. Let cool, then coarsely chop and set aside. Crumble the feta cheese, set aside. Chop the cilantro, set aside.
Get your grill to 450°F. Rub corn with one tablespoon of oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill, turning occasionally, until lightly charred and tender, 4 minutes per side or so depending on size of corn ears, 12 minutes total. Transfer to a platter and let cool.
In a bowl add the cleaned shrimp, one tablespoon of oil, salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Drop the grill temperature to 400°F and grill one minute per side (See Note 2). Set aside. Do not over cook.
Cut the kernels from corn cobs (See Note 3) and place in a large bowl. Add the walnuts, cooked barley, cheese, cilantro and shrimp to bowl and toss to combine.
In a small bowl whisk together the lime juice, pinch of kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper with remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. Pour over salad and toss to mix thoroughly.
Notes
1. Cook 1 cup pearled barley in 3 cups of boiling, salted water according to package directions. Drain, but do not rinse, and spread out on a baking sheet to cool.2. One minute per side for jumbo size shrimp (about 12 shrimp per pound), less time for smaller shrimp. No one wants over cooked, tough shrimp!3. To cut the kernels off the ear of corn I stand one end on a small, inverted bowl in a larger bowl and cut each side, allowing kernels to fall into bowl. Also feel free to do this using a bundt cake pan, works the same.