Strawberry Spinach Salad

Love this time of the year, when you no longer have to cook everything you eat. This salad is really easy and delicious. I didn't follow the amounts exactly - but I had enough servings for 4 or 5 meals (obviously supplemented with other snacks).

½ cup dry wheat berries
1½ cups water
1 teaspoon Herbs de Provence
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 Tablespoon olive oil

¼ cup olive oil
3 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 Tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon Herbs de Provence
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper

6 cups baby spinach leaves
1 cup fresh strawberries, sliced
¼ cup crumbled goat cheese (or more....)

In a small pot combine the wheat berries, water, herbs, olive oil, and salt. Bring to a boil and then cover with a lid and reduce to a simmer. Cook over low heat for 25-35 minutes or until all of the liquid has been absorbed and the wheat berries are tender. Remove the lid and allow the wheat berries to steam for 5 -10 minutes. Cool and set aside.

In a small bowl whisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, herbs and salt and pepper for the vinaigrette.

Toss together the cooled wheat berries, spinach, strawberries, and goat cheese. Serve with vinaigrette to taste.

Original recipe here

Zesty Wheatberry Black Bean Chili

This recipe is really easy and delicious, but beware of the spices. I bought diced tomatoes from Trader Joe's, and when I was there they were out of the regular tomatoes and only had some that were spiced with green chiles. I decided to leave out the chipotle peppers in adobo sauce because of that - and I'm very glad I did, because the dish was certainly spicy enough! I suggest having a bit of milk on hand for this one. I'm definitely going to try making this again, and make sure I have the correct ingredients.

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 large yellow bell pepper,chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed
2 14-ounce cans no-salt-added diced tomatoes, undrained
1-2 canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, minced
2 cups vegetable broth
2 teaspoons light brown sugar
2 cups cooked wheatberries
Juice of 1 lime
1 avocado, diced
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion, bell pepper, garlic, chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add beans, tomatoes, chipotle to taste, broth and brown sugar. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes.

Stir in cooked wheat berries and heat through, about 5 minutes more. (If using frozen wheat berries, cook until thoroughly heated.) Remove from the heat. Stir in lime juice. Garnish each bowl with avocado and cilantro.

Original recipe here 

Roasted Butternut Squash and Chickpea Wheatberry Salad

I made this a month or so ago, when I was trying to find some new recipes with wheatberries. I really enjoy wheatberries, but it can be hard to find good recipes for them! This isn't my favorite recipe and I may not make it again - but it was definitely good to try. I'm not a huge fan of red onions, and this had a bit too much red onion in it, which was minorly overwhelming.

I remember I didn't follow the ingredient list very well - I used a whole can of chickpeas, a whole red onion, and a whole butternut squash (no idea how much it weighed) - so this may have been better if I had stayed true to the recipe. I don't like to throw food away, and if I had used 1/4 cup of the red onion, I probably wouldn't have found another use for it. I do this often and it's usually a non-issue, but, I can't cheat all the time and get away with it! :) I also tend to not measure spices if there are many different spices to measure and add - I can be pretty lazy sometimes!

Roasted Butternut Squash and Chickpea Wheatberry Salad

1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 pound squash (peeled, seeded and cut into bite sized pieces)
1 cup wheatberries (cook as directed)
1 cup chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
1/4 cup red onion (chopped)
2 tablespoons cilantro
1/4 cup tahini, lemon and yogurt dressing

1. Toss the squash in the oil, salt and pepper to coat.
2. Bake in a single layer in a preheated 400F oven for 30 minutes flipping once in the middle.
3. Mix the squash, chickpeas, red onion and cilantro and top with the dressing.

Tahini, Lemon and Yogurt Dressing

2 tablespoons tahini
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup cup Greek yogurt (or regular plain yogurt)
1 clove garlic (grated)
salt and pepper to taste
* olive oil or water

1. Mix everything and add olive oil or water to get it to the desired consistency.


Original recipe here

Wheatberry Salad

I wanted to make wheatberries for a long time - and my first attempt was a Mark Bittman recipe that I didn't really enjoy. I found this recipe just by searching for a wheatberry salad recipe on Google - and I love it! It's really easy, and good to cook/have around in the summer. It has a lot of olive oil - and you probably don't need to add as much as is called for - but it's delicious if you do :)


1 cup hard winter wheatberries
Kosher salt
1 cup finely diced red onion (1 onion)
6 tablespoons good olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 scallions, minced, white and green parts
1/2 red bell pepper, small diced (I just used a whole one...what to do with 1/2 a pepper?)
1 carrot, small diced
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper


Place the wheatberries and 3 cups of boiling salted water in a saucepan and cook, uncovered, over low heat for approximately 45 minutes, or until they are soft. Drain. (The package on the wheatberries I bought said to cook for 25 minutes - which was enough. This may differ greatly depending on the kind of wheatberries you get - just test them and they're ready when they're nice and chewy!)

Saute the red onion in 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-low heat until translucent, approximately 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the remaining 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) of olive oil and the balsamic vinegar.

In a large bowl, combine the warm wheatberries, sauteed onions, scallions, red bell pepper, carrot, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and the pepper. Allow the salad to sit for at least 30 minutes for the wheatberries to absorb the sauce. Season, to taste, and serve at room temperature.

Original recipe here