Healthy cooking doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact? Often the simpler it is, the better it tastes. In Good for You, Test Kitchen editor Rebecca Firkser shares nourishing, craveable recipes that you can pull off in 10 ingredients or fewer.
“Fiber is the new protein.” I’m sure you’ve heard this from wellness-touters across your chosen social media feed, as if an essential nutrient can be considered a fleeting trend. But far be it from me to pass judgement! We could all probably benefit from eating more fiber—in fact, only about 5% of us get enough—especially when eating a lot of protein.
Here’s why: Fiber is a plant-derived carbohydrate that can’t be digested. This sounds bad, but is actually extremely beneficial to gut health. If your diet is light on fiber and heavy on protein—standard for Americans and absolutely not your fault—your digestion can, well, slow down. Nobody wants that.
Fiber, paired with protein, keeps things moving and also helps with protein absorption. So, how do we get there without yet another powder? Plenty of everyday ingredients have a high fiber content. Think: whole grains, seeds, vegetables, fruit (especially skin-on), beans. Could you pile a grain bowl with broccoli and chickpeas and call it a day? Sure. But in this column, I’m on a mission to make healthy cooking a joyful, craveable experience.
Enter this new Good for You recipe, a high-fiber—and yes, protein-rich—salad that doesn’t feel like a chore. It calls on fiber heavy-hitters barley and lentils, with fennel and sunflower seeds in supporting roles. The chewy grains and tiny legumes provide a sturdy base, absorbing all the flavors of the warm harissa-spiked dressing without going limp.
Barley is typically sold in “hulled” and “pearled” iterations. The former is my strong preference. With only its husk removed, hulled barley offers almost double the fiber of its bran- and germless counterpart. It also takes double the time to cook, but there’s a simple workaround for that. To decrease cooking time—without losing any of those precious grams of fiber—just soak hulled barley overnight while you get some shut eye.
From there, it’s a breeze. Cook the earthy grains and nutty lentils. Toss them, still warm, with a caramelized harissa dressing (tons of flavor in just a few ingredients, praise be). Finish things off with crunchy sliced fennel, then mound the salad over a cloud of rich, seasoned Greek yogurt. Sprinkle over toasty sunflower seeds, and all that’s left to do is grab a big spoon.
