Red Wheat Berry Salad - Whole Grain Gourmet

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We love whole grains! We have found that we prefer their flavor. They are also far healthier than the refined foods which characterize the typical modern diet.

Switching to whole grains helps maintain a low glycemic diet. That means you will have more sustainable energy levels throughout the day, and probably fewer problems with weight control.

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Red Wheat Berry Salad

Written by Whole Grain Gourmet

Monday, 31 March 2008 17:34

red wheatberry salad

Some good friends of ours recently asked us for this recipe. They planned to serve it at a family Easter dinner. We met with them yesterday and it sounds like they loved it. It had been a little while since we last made it, so we decided to put some red wheat berries to soak last night before bed.

As I sit here with a full belly writing this, I sure am glad we did. This is a delicious whole grain salad. The texture of the wheat berries, wild rice, pecans, and cranberries is fantastic. The flavor combination is wonderful. If you have never tried a wheat berry salad then this is a great way to do so. I usually serve it over a bed of fresh spinach, and accompany it with grilled shrimp. Toss the spinach in some olive oil and lightly salt it with a pinch of kosher salt before topping it with the wheat berry salad.

Red Wheat Berry Salad

Ingredients:

1 cup hard red winter wheat berries, soaked overnight
1/2 cup raw wild rice
2/3 cup toasted chopped pecans
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup chopped green onions
3 tbs fresh lemon or lime juice
1 tbs honey
1 tbs dijon mustard
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Preparation:

Soak the wheat berries overnight in cold water, covering them 3 inches. Drain the water in the morning.
Boil the wheat berries in 6 cups of water for about 50 to 60 minutes, or until tender. Add more water as necessary to keep wheat berries covered during cooking. Drain excess water from the wheat berries when done.
In another small pot, boil 2 cups of water. Add the wild rice and simmer for about 45 minutes, or until the rice begins to split. I prefer to undercook the wild rice slightly so that it retains some structure. Drain excess water.
Combine the cooked wheat berries and wild rice in a large bowl.
Whisk the lime juice, honey, mustard, salt, and pepper to make the dressing. Add the dressing to the wheat berries and wild rice, mix thoroughly.
Now add the cranberries, pecans, parsley, and green onions and combine well.

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Comments (11)

Our entire family really enjoyed this salad over the holidays. It is a perfect salad to share at a party and wonderful as leftovers!

this is official on the menu for sometime this week. i love wheat berries, but i almost always eat them cold as a summary salad with mandarin oranges, pecans and scallions.

This looks great. I'm wondering how it would taste if I subbed the wheat berries for quinoa (I need to eat gluten-free)...what do you think?

By the way, I found you on Tastespotting.com

awd - thanks for the feedback!
michelle@tns - your salad sounds yummy!
Sally - I love quinoa, but its texture will create a completely different salad. It may be great. Let us know if you try it. I can't think of a gluten-free grain that has the structure and texture of the wheat berry.

This is very yummy. I substituted dried tart cherries for the cranberries and it was very good. I think next time I may cut down the flat leaf parsley by half and use 1/2 cilantro...I just perfer the taste. I'll let you know b/c I will definitely be making this again.

Plenty of water-soluble vitamins and minerals going down the drain with those instructions to cook grains in a lot of water and then throw out the excess. Better to be more sparing with water at the beginning and add it as needed to keep the grains moist as they cook, finishing by turning the fire off and leaving the lid on, so the grains will absorb any final liquid. Soon you will get an eye for how much to use so that it will all be absorbed.

Hi Leona. While I agree in principal with your point, in practice cooking wheat berries has much more in common with cooking pasta than with cooking a grain like rice. That's our experience anyway. If you have experimented and have a precise ratio of water to wheat berries that does not require straining I would love to hear about it. Thanks for visiting.

One of the best recipes for wheatberries I've tried!!

you have very goood thinking with berry salad like this one

Hi Leona and Whole Grain Gourmet. Thank you for your recipe and comments. I plan on making this tonight! I have found that about a 3 to 1 ratio of water (or stock) to wheat berries is about right for cooking without straining. Thanks again!

this site is such a wonderful gift!
the salad was/is delicious - i added brown rice, cucumbers and subbed gold raisins for the cranberries.
also added some olive oil.
had chemo/surgeries over the past few years and am now getting back to some healthy habits. have never cooked the berries before with such an awesome result -
thank you!

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