Pearl Barley Salad

Here's to a new year with hopefully many new recipes and postings to accompany it!
I consider myself very fortunate to work in a place where good food is hard to miss, and where the opportunity to learn and have discussions about ingredients, recipes, food trends, and in general all-things food is never lacking. It is with thanks to this inspiration and a certain chef "M" that I have provided the following recipe for a Pearl Barley Salad. A grain I probably might have never endeavored to cook otherwise!

Pearl Barley Salad
3 cups water
1 cup pearl barley
salt
1 tblsp good quality balsamic vinegar
3 tblsp good quality olive oil
1 tblsp lemon juice
1 apple - any favorite variety will do, and I chose Braeburn
1/2 cup walnut pieces
1/4 cup dried currants
1/2 large red onion, finely chopped
2 tblsp chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste

1) Bring the water to a boil and add salt. Meanwhile rinse the barley in a fine mesh sieve to rid the grain of  the excess starch produced when it is harvested. Add the barley to the boiling water, reduce the temperature so that the water is at a simmer, cover the pot, and cook until the water has evaporated - about 45 minutes. Transfer the grain to the sieve once again and run it under cold water so as to stop the cooking of and to cool down the barley. Remove the grain to large a mixing bowl.
3) While the barley is cooking you can prepare the remaining pieces of the salad. Heat a small non-stick skillet over medium high heat, and drizzle in 1 tblsp of olive oil. Add the walnut pieces and toast shaking the pan occasionally for roughly five minutes. Next add the currants to the pan and quickly after add the tblsp of vinegar away from the heat and toss to coat the nuts and currants evenly.
4) Peel, core and chop the apple into a fine dice, and combine the pieces in a bowl with the lemon juice.
5) To the bowl with the barley, add the toasted and coated nuts with the currants, the chopped onion, the remaining 2 tblsps of olive oil, the chopped parsley, and the lemon juice-soaked apple pieces. Using a spoon toss all the ingredients to combine, season to taste, and allow the salad to cool until ready to serve. Fortunately this is a salad that will only get better the longer the grain has to sit and absorb the juices, so feel free to make a larger batch if and when you deem it tasty enough for you.