Barley Salad with Apples served with spinach feta sausages

I'm making a barley salad by Grace Parisi from Food and Wine tonight. I've changed a couple of things. I used chicken stock rather than water. You could also use vegegtable stock. It adds a little depth of flavor. I also used dried thyme but feel free to use fresh thyme. Here's the link to Food and Wine:http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/short-grain-brown-rice-salad-with-apples-pomegranate-seeds-and-pine-nuts.

The barley
approximately 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups pearled barley
1/2 red onion, finely diced
1 teaspoon dried thyme
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
Kosher salt to taste

Cook the barley:
1.In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil. Add the pearled barley and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until lightly toasted; the grains will turn slightly opaque just before browning. Add more olive oil if necessary. Add the onion and thyme and cook over low heat, stirring, until the onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Add the stock and kosher salt and bring to a boil. Cover and cook over very low heat until the water is absorbed and the grains are tender. Fluff the grains. Season the grains with salt and serve. Let cool. You can make this a day ahead.

The salad

1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 small shallot, minced
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 large tart apple, such as Pacific Rose, cored and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
seeds from 1 pomegranate or about 1/2 cup
1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Put the salad together:
In a bowl, whisk the oil with the vinegar and shallot and season with salt and pepper. Add the Thyme-Scented Pearled Barley, pine nuts, apple, pomegranate seeds and parsley; toss before serving. You can put the salad together without the nuts beforehand. Add the nuts before serving.

My daughter will have this salad with tofu tossed in. You could also crumble in some goat cheese or other mild cheese. Mike and I will have the sausages and a lovely Pinot Noir from Marin and Sonoma counties and the Santa Lucia Highalnds, The Forager from the Pey family.
http://www.marinwines.com/pinot-noir-wines-forager.html
Enjoy!