This recipe was inspired by the young pioneers and their mentor, who have begun a garden at the high school where I work. Last week, I was invited to pick some basil from the garden, and came up with this late summer recipe. This dish is made to showcase just a few ingredients at the peak of ripeness.

Hope Club Canapés

Place a 1/2″ slice of delicious ripe tomato on a small plate. Top with a scoop of cooked barley. Drizzle with pesto. Season with cracked black pepper.

For this recipe, I used quick-cooking barley and cooked it like rice (1 cup barley to 1 1/2 cups water with a pinch of salt). I added the juice of one lemon to the cooking liquid.  I left the lemon rind in the pot while the barley cooked, and removed it before serving and storing.