Summer Wheatberry Salad

Just a quick note to Ellen: if you're checking in here, I think now would be a perfect time to post a recipe of something you're eating as you're enjoying a gondola right through Italy! I know they have great salads there.





Here's to one of my new favorite salad ingredients - wheatberries. The wheat berries are just the wheat you have stored in your food storage. In this salad the berries are just a topping, but I'm loving a few salads right now that use the berry as the main ingredient too. This recipe calls for soft wheat, but I always use hard. If you're using hard berries (my favorite are hard white wheat), just make sure to soak the beans overnight in the fridge covered with water. Once soaked, they take about the same amount of time to cook as the soft berries. You can also use a pressure cooker for the berries and it cuts down the time a lot.



Summer Wheatberry Salad

1 cup soft wheatberries
6 cups water (or low-salt vegetable or chicken broth)
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup chopped artichoke hearts
1/2 cup quartered cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup diced roasted red bell pepper
2 Tbsp. capers, drained and chopped
3 Tbsp. sliced scallion (white and green parts)
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil or cilantro

Vinaigrette:
1/2 to 1 tsp. finely minced garlic
2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp. white-wine vinegar
1/4 cup fruity olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Garnish:
Young greens, such as arugula, red mustard, cress, mizuna, or a mix.

In a heavy saucepan with a lid, combine the wheatberries, water or broth, salt, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and then simmer partially covered until the wheatberries are pleasantly chewy, which may take anywhere from 50 to 90 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, discard the bay leaf, and let the berries cool in the liquid. When cool, drain off all the liquid and put the berries into a large bowl. Add the artichoke hearts, tomatoes, roasted pepper, capers, scallion, almonds and basil or cilantro.
In a small bowl, whisk the garlic, lime juice, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper; toss with the salad. Arrange the greens on chilled plates and top with the salad.