Barley Salad with Asparagus

This is not your typical Memorial Day food. While most Americans were cooking slabs of meat on a grill today, we made this Barley Salad to take with us when we went to visit Darlene's parents this afternoon. We often get a simple barley salad on the side when we eat at Sunflower and that's what gave us this idea. In a very small nod to tradition, I did break out the grill pan and grill the asparagus. After it cooled I chopped it into bite-sized pieces and added it to some cooked barley along with some diced carrot and celery and a little thinly sliced red onion. The dressing was toasted sesame oil, rice vinegar and a few splashes of Braggs and we had it at room temperature (though it's equally good chilled).