Arabian-Spiced Vegetable Barley Salad (any type of leftover vegetables)

The thing about vegetables is that the supermarket tells you when they're in season. By having a sale. Which is why we typically only buy what's on sale. (Although the  copious amounts of fresh vegetables showing up right now have more to do with what's in season in Chile.)In any case, this methodology led to our having half a cauliflower and a pound of string beans sitting around in the refrigerator. But you could use almost any vegetable you have (cooked or otherwise) for this salad.

Arabian-spiced barley salad with string beans and cauliflower

1/2 head of cauliflower, roughly separated into florets and then sliced
1 pound of string beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch lengths
2 cups barley (yes that's what's probably left in that old bag of barley sitting in your pantry)
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
3 hard-boiled eggs
1/4 cup chopped parsley
4 cloves of garlic (pureed or blasted through a garlic press)
1/2 cup greek yogurt
2-3 teaspoons baharat (see link for basic recipe)
extra virgin olive oil
fig vinegar (balsamic would substitute well. In fact, you can use any vinegar mixed with a small amount of sugar, except white, which is best when mixed with water and used to clean windows)

(We really like baharat so we mix our own and keep it around to have on hand. If you're not up for that sort of pageantry, you can buy it online or simply use any type of spicing and flavoring that you enjoy.)

1. Bring 6 cups of water to a boil. Add the barley and cook until tender. This will take about 45 minutes. Remove, drain and allow to cool.
2. Meanwhile, steam cauliflower until tender and set aside.
3. Steam green beans until cooked through and set aside.
4. Heat 1/3 cup of olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. When it is hot, add half the pureed garlic and stir. Cook the garlic for about 15 seconds, then add the baharat, give it one more stir, and take the pan off the heat immediately. Let the oil cool.
5. Pour the vinegar into a mixing bowl. Slowly whisk in the oil until a nice vinaigrette has formed.
6. When the barley has cooked through and has a good texture, drain it in a colander and set aside.
7. Chop the hard-boiled eggs into chunks. (Needless to say, you don't have to do all this stuff one thing after another. You can do most of it at the same time.)
8. Mix the remaining pureed garlic with the yogurt. Thin with water to make a pourable sauce, and season with a small amount of salt.
9. Mix the barley with the cauliflower and green beans. You might have more barley than you need.
10. Sauce the barley and vegetable mixture with the baharat vinaigrette. Depending on the amounts that you have, you might need to add a bit more oil or vinegar. Season with salt to taste.
11. Serve barley salad garnished with hard-boiled eggs, feta cheese, and parsley, and with the garlic yogurt sauce drizzled on top.