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I was sitting in a coffee shop earlier today, working on my thesis (it seems to be nearly the only thing I do these days) when my cell phone rang. It was my mom, calling for potluck recipe suggestions. After determining that she didn't have anything that particularly needed to be use up, I started brainstorming a grain salad with red pepper, feta, green onion, dried cranberries, cucumber, toasted slivered almonds and plenty of chopped mint. It needed a dressing and so we dreamed up a vinaigrette of honey, orange zest, white balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

I first started out thinking this dish using couscous, but when my mom mentioned that she had lots of barley, we both made the mental shift to that grain. It has a nice bite and takes dressing well without getting soggy (salads made with barley can last for days in the fridge). The only secret to cooking barley for salad is to use three parts water to one part grain, as it needs more liquid than rice or quinoa.

Now, if only I could fly home to Portland tonight for dinner.

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Like the folks over at The Grub Report, I've never been a big fan of squash. My sister always makes it on Thanksgiving and Christmas, and after the one person who eats squash has some, it just sits there in its sad little bowl, lonely, getting all cold and runny.

However, I might try this recipe for Butternut Squash-Tossed Pasta. I think it has enough other ingredients where the flavor of the squash will be lessened a bit. It also uses Butternut Squash from Trader Joe's, though I'm going to assume you can use any brand (the Trader Joe's Gorgonzola-Walnut Tortellini is something I'd definitely use, however).