Directions
I’ve discussed my love of wheat berries, and how healthy they are for you before, so I won’t bore you with the nitty gritty on that. (If you want to check out the nitty gritty, check out my Autumn Wheat Berry Salad recipe.)
But…
I love wheat berry salads. Cooked wheat berries, which I’m seeing more and more in everyday supermarkets (Yay!), have such a great bite to them and work so well in cold, salads for summer picnics. They add an earthy element, and tend to taste better as they marinate with the other flavors. This recipe is no exception. I ran across this one online, on Pinterest, and like so many of the things I’ve pinned there, it caught my eye because of the colors. With all of the veggies, it just looked like something light and fresh that I needed in my summer. If nothing else, it’s a great reason to visit the Farmer’s Market!
Before the Market, however, hit up your grocery store for some wheat berries. I’ve had great luck with this quicker cooking variety…
These have been parboiled, so they only take 25 minutes as opposed to an hour that “raw” wheat berries will take. Once they were cooked, I drained them in a colander and let them cool off just a bit.
While the wheat berries were cooking, I chopped up some tomatoes, cucumber, celery, green pepper, and red onion and mixed them together in a large bowl.
Doesn’t that just look like summer?
When the berries were cooled, I stirred them into the veggie mix, along with a mixture of olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, salt and a few good dashes of Tabasco sauce.
I let the salad marinate at room temperature for about twenty minutes before I served it alongside some steak that Aaron had grilled up for us. If you’re not serving it right away, it can just chill out in the fridge for a while.
We really enjoyed this light, but hearty, salad that night. The flavors reminded us of another one of our summer favorites, Gazpacho! The leftovers served perfectly as a healthy lunch for me the next day…and the day after that,too!
SUMMER VEGGIE WHEAT BERRY SALAD
Adapted from Women’s Health Magazine
- 1 cup wheat berries
- 1 lb tomatoes, finely chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
- 1 cucumber, halved lengthwise, seeded, and finely chopped
- 3 celery stalks, cut lengthwise into thirds and finely chopped
- 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 tsp salt (optional)
- Several dashes Tabasco sauce
- Cook the wheat berries according to the directions on the package. How long it takes all depends on the type you purchase! After they have cooked, drain them in a colander and allow to cool just a bit.
- Mix together all of the chopped vegetables in a large bowl.
- Whisk together the dressing ingredients.
- Add the wheat berries to the vegetables, and stir together, along with the dressing.
- If serving soon, allow to marinate at room temperature for about 20 minutes before serving. If serving later, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- ENJOY!
