cool wheat berry salad

This weekend, I was planning on visiting my grandma and having a nice lunch with her. The first thing that came to mind was some kind of salad – they’re quick and easy to make and eat, travel well, and contain everything you need for a delicious, satisfying lunch in one bowl. Based on what I had around that needed to be used up before I head to Oregon for the NCAA West Regional track meet this week, I came up with this cool, delicious concoction.

Cool Wheat Berry Salad

• 1/2 c. dry wheat berries
• 2 tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 1 cucumber, seeded and diced
• 5-6 green onions, sliced thin
• 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 to 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
• salt + pepper to taste
• 1/2 avocado, diced
• ~ 1/4 c. crumbled feta cheese (more or less depending on your preference)

1. To prepare the wheat berries, place them in a saucepan and cover them with water. Cover and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat and simmer 20-25 minutes until tender and chewy.
2. While the wheat berries are cooking, dice the tomatoes, cucumber, and green onion and combine in a large bowl with the chickpeas. Drain and add the wheat berries when they are finished cooking.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, and red wine vinegar. Pour over the salad and stir to combine. Add a dash of salt and pepper to taste. Cover and place in the fridge at least 2 hours to chill.
4. Just before serving, stir in the avocado and feta cheese.

This salad was so cool and refreshing! I can already tell I’ll be enjoying it a lot this summer. The small size of the diced vegetables was close to that of the chickpeas and made it easy to get a little of everything in each bite. And, of course, I just LOVE the chewy texture of wheat berries! You could substitute another grain in place of the wheat berries as well, but I think that they really add a lot to this salad. Look for them in the health market section of your grocery store. If your store has bulk bins, that would also be a good place to look. Bob’s Red Mill is typically a pretty easy brand to find in the grocery store and they sell all kinds of beans, flours, mixes, cereals, and grains – including wheat berries!

taste the rainbow

Wheatberries make another appearance!

Yesterday morning, we left for a track meet in California, so I needed to use up some food for dinner Tuesday night. When I got home from practice, I started boiling about 1 c. of water with 1/4 c. rice. When it looked like almost all of the water was absorbed, I added in some cooked wheatberries I had in the fridge. I just love how chewy they are and they go great with brown rice! I also had some veggies to use up before we left…

I had 1/2 a bag of frozen stir-fry veggies and added some carrots, cherry tomatoes, and chopped fresh spinach, then stir-fried it all with a spoonful of hoisin sauce.

It was delicious, quick, and packed with nutrients. Besides, I feel like it’s always a good idea to load up on veggies before you travel because they seem to be hard to come by on the road. My fruit consumption definitely outweighs my veggie consumption on trips because fresh + dried fruit are pretty accessible and easy to pack even if you don’t have access to a fridge or cooler.

Just looking at the pictures makes me want to eat that again…or at least some kind of vegetable! Usually, I think I’m pretty good about packing good things to eat for trips, but it has been especially difficult this year with the number of trips where we fly instead of drive AND the surprising lack of in-room fridges, adequate continental breakfasts, or nearby grocery stores. I’ve got some time on my hands today before the race though, so maybe I’ll save that for a separate post on eating while traveling 🙂

spring is here!

The weather is finally warming up and I am already craving all kinds of light, fresh meals. I can’t wait until farmer’s markets are back in full swing! I have recently discovered an obsession with wheat berries…I just can’t get over how chewy and delicious they are! They’re really easy to prepare too. All you do is submerge them in water, bring to a boil, then simmer (covered) for about 25 minutes, which leaves them nice and firm/chewy. I’ve been preparing a batch on the weekends to keep in the fridge and use during the week. So far, they’re good straight from the fridge, added to brown rice and served with a veggie stir-fry, stirred into oatmeal, and in this creation:

That would be a tuna + wheat berry salad! Last week, I was out of bread to make my usual sandwich at lunch so I improvised with the wheat berries I had waiting in the fridge. I made my standard tuna salad with tuna + bell pepper + green onion+ fresh lemon juice + black pepper, then I stirred in some wheat berries as kind of a stand-in for the usual bread. It was great! So much so that I made it again later in the week, this time adding in some great northern beans to help add some more “staying power”. It turned out great!

Wheat berries are basically just the entire wheat kernel (minus the tough hull), so they are pretty much the definition of a whole grain and are packed with nutrients. I get mine in the bulk bins at People’s Grocery for around $1.00/pound, but you should be able to find them in the regular grocery store too.

This salad is perfect for the warmer weather that finally seems to be here to stay! I’m sure I’ll keep making all kinds of variations throughout the summer months 🙂