26.8.13

Wheat Berry and Chickpea Salad


Dorie's Wheat Berry and Tuna Salad somehow got me fixated on Wheat berry. Ever since, I have been trying a lot of combinations with the berries and this one worked out great. It made my husband say, "we should have salads more often. may be we should make Monday our salad day !" 

As anybody will recognize from the ingredient list, this salad is Mediterranean at heart. I just added and subtracted a  few things to suit our taste and supplies. These flavors also taste great in a panzanella. In a subsequent Monday, I tried this salad using toasted bread pieces instead of wheat berries. Husband approved of that too...



Wheat Berry and Chickpea Salad

Recipe adapted from NY Times
Prep time: 1 hour + 1 hour chilling                                                     Total time: 2 ½ hours
Serves : 3

Ingredients
  • ¼ cup wheat berry
  • chickpea, 1/2 cup, cooked
  • 1/2 green bell pepper, diced
  • 1/2 red bell pepper or a combination of red, orange and yellow bell peppers, diced 
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 8 kalamata olives, halved
  • 6 cherry tomatoes, quartered lengthwise
  • vinaigreatte for the wheat berries
    • 2 tsp lemon juice
    • 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar
    • salt, pepper and sugar to taste
    • 1 tbsp olive oil
    • 1 clove of garlic, grated
    • 1 tsp crushed red pepper
  • for the salad dressing
    • 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
    • 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar
    • 1/2 tsp sugar (optional)
    • 1/2 tsp cumin powder
    • 2 tbsp olive oil
    • 2 tbsp yogurt ( preferably Greek yogurt, but plain non-fat is fine)
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • crumbled feta (optional) 
Cooking Directions
  1. In a medium sized pot, bring 3 cups of water to a boil. Stir in the wheat berries and turn down the heat to low. Cook, stirring every now and then , until the berries are tender but still a little chewy; 45 minutes to an hour. Drain the wheat berries (if necessary) and let them cool to room temperature.
  2. Mix all the ingredients listed under vinaigrette for wheat berries in a bowl and pour it over the cooked wheat berries, cover the bowl and let it stand at room temperature for at least 1 hour, The rest helps the berries absorb the vinaigrette. The berries can also be cooked a day in advance and allowed to soak in the vinaigrette overnight. In that case refrigerate the bowl of berries.
  3. When ready to assemble the salad, toss together the wheat berries along with the other ingredients in a big bowl, whisk the ingredients of the dressing in a separate bowl and add it to the veggies. Mix all the ingredients with a light hand, check for the salt and pepper and serve.
Hope you had a great weekend. we didn't do much but enjoyed nevertheless...

Will be sharing this salad at the following weekly parties...
Wednesday Food : What's Cooking Wednesday @ Buns in my OvenCast Party Wednesday @ Lady Behind the Curtain  Wednesday Whatsit @White Lights on Show and Share @ Semi Homemade MomWonderful Food Wednesdays at @ Home Take 2Seasonal Celebration @ Natural Mother's Network


14 comments:

  1. Yummily.. A healthy salad which is colorful too :)

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  2. This salad looks good! I have just begun to love eating wheat berries!
    Thanks for sharing!

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  3. such an healthy salad loving it a lot :) yummy combo and looks colorful dear :)

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  4. Delicious and healthy salad I love it.

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  5. Yum, yum,I love wheatberries, have to this a try.

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  6. very healthy Salad, we like it it's help us to improve our food diet, I wish you can upload this recipe on Find best dishes at restaurants in Ahmedabad, so many ppl can see..

    Thanks for sharing this..

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  7. It's been a long time since I've had a wheat berry salad, but I love this sound of this one with the special vinaigrette for the wheat berries. And the addition of chickpeas helps to make this even more hearty... A wonderful and simple salad!

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  8. Me encanta su ensalada saludable se ve muy rico,saludos y abrazos

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  9. I love that this is so colorful and healthy! Thanks for linking up to All My Bloggy Friends this week - I'll be sharing this on Facebook!

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  10. Thank you so much for sharing your awesome recipe with Full Plate Thursday. Hope you have had a great weekend and have a fabulous week.
    Come Back Soon!
    Miz Helen

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  11. Just wanted you to know that your recipe is being featured on Foodie Friday today. I will be pinning and tweeting it this week too.

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  12. Tanusree- This is a Tickly my Tastebuds Tuesdays feature on my blog this Tuesday! Thanks for linking up!
    laura

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Thanks for stopping by. It was nice having you here. Have a good day.

Take care and come back soon.
Best, Tanusree

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