Loving My Favorite Fall Salad

Gluten free or not, I love wheatberries! I love their chew and how satisfying they are. My favorite way to enjoy wheatberries is by making it with roasted butternut squash, dried cranberries (or cherries), nuts, green onions and a dijon honey balsamic dressing. It reminds of the salad I get from the Wholefoods salad bar. As soon as I moved back to Las Vegas, I made this salad. I knew my body needed to stay healthy and this salad would do the trick. Plus it just reminds me of Fall with all the pretty colors added to the wheatberries.

It has been almost 3 weeks now since the “break-up" and I’m surprised at how well I’m doing. I have my good and bad days, which is normal. I still have many questions I need answered. I just need the closure after being in a serious relationship for 3 years. I really felt like this man in my life, was going to be my future husband. How it ended all so quickly, 1 hour before I was moving back to Las Vegas, yes I have a lot of questions and yes I want them all answered. The healing process is still going. In the meantime, I’ll have more wheatberry salad please!

I also just want to thank all the support I’ve received from my readers, family and friends. Thank you!

Here is my original version of my Wheatberry Salad with Dried Cherries, Roasted Butternut Squash and Toasted Pecans

This time around I added in dried cranberries and sliced almonds. That is what my mom had in the pantry and I figured it would taste just as good. I noticed the jar of mustard had just enough for the dressing and I decided to shake up the dressing in the jar. Clever right? Plus I had extra dressing and just left it stored in the jar!

 

Happy Fall!
Fallon

Wheatberries with Balsamic Honey Dressing

I’m working a lot and that means I pack a lunch every single day for work. On the weekend I will make some sort of grain and whip it into a salad that I can put on top of lettuce, spinach and dress up with additional vegetables. Well here is another tasty wheatberry salad with a balsamic dressing sweetened with honey and a sweet/spicy mustard! I’ve tweaked it from my last wheatberry salad. That was a very popular recipe due to the roasted butternut squash and dried cherries. This salad is just as delicious but for a lighter appetite. The sweet and spicy mustard gives it a nice kick. You could add more for an even bigger kick!

Balsamic Honey Dressing

By Fallon

Ingredients

1/8 cup balsamic vinegar

1/8 cup apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons sweet and spicy mustard (Trader Joe’s has a great one!)

2 teaspoons honey

Salt and pepper

Direction

Mix everything into a bowl with a wire whisk or shake up in a mason jar.

To prepare the wheatberry salad, make sure you have soaked and cooked the wheatberries. I measured out a 1/2 cup of wheatberries to soak and then cooked them in 2 1/2 cups of water. After they have cooled off place into a large bowl, add 1/2 cup sliced green onions, 1/4 cup Thompson seedless raisins, and 1/3 cup toasted chopped pecans. Pour dressing and mix to combine.

Enjoy!

Fallon

Wheatberry Salad

If there is a cookbook I need to utilize more often it would be Clean Food by Terry Walters. All her recipes are vegetarian based and are divided by seasons. I’m more aware of what fruit and vegetables I should consume during Winter and vice versa thanks to this book. I’ve been going through it a lot recently and have tried several of the recipes. Making these healthy meals has helped me maintain my weight since moving to El Paso. I thought I’d have a more difficult time but I’m actually doing really well on maintaining a healthy lifestyle. I’m not able to get to the gym all the time but I push myself to workout at home using DVDs. At the end of the day it all balances out but it helps to eat a healthy meal that will satisfy you and not leave you feeling hungry during the day.

I’ve recently been on a wheatberry kick and came across a salad in Clean Food. It was slightly different from the first wheatberry I made. This had a simple dressing of lime juice and toasted sesame oil. Since it is still winter here, I opted to use pink lady apples. In the summer though peaches would be a wonderful addition!

This salad was delicious after I let it set in the fridge overnight and let the flavors come together. There was a lot of action going on with this salad from the chewy wheatberries, crisp apples, sweet currants and toasted sunflower seeds. I once again set the wheatberry salad on top of spinach! It is one of the best lunches I’ve been having lately.

Wheatberry Salad From Clean Food

Serves 8

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups wheatberries

Sea salt

4-5 scallions, chopped

1 cup chopped apples (granny, pink lady etc)

1/2 cup currants (I used organic Thompson seedless raisins)

1/4 cup toasted sunflower seeds

Juice of 1 lime

3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

Directions

Rinse wheatberries, soak in bowl with enough water to cover for at least 1 hour, then drain. In large pot, bring 3 1/4 cups water to boil. Add wheatberries and pinch of salt, reduce heat, cover, and simmer until all water is absorbed (35-45 minutes). Set aside to cool, then fluff with fork.

In large bowl, combine cooked wheatberries with scallions, apples, currants and toasted sunflower seeds. Toss with lime juice, toasted sesame oil and pinch of salt. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

 

Eating healthy really is not difficult at all! Look at how simple the ingredient list is and how quick everything eventually came together once the wheatberries have cooked. I tried out a cookie recipe the other day using some ripe bananas. I can’t wait to show you guys that recipe as well from Clean Food.

Enjoy,

Fallon

Wheatberry Salad with Dried Cherries, Roasted Butternut Squash and Toasted Pecans

One thing I miss back home is Wholefoods and the lovely hot food bar. I would always start with a bed of lettuce and then top it with various items like hummus, Asian cabbage slaw, wheatberry salad, roasted vegetables etc. It was always different and always delicious. El Paso unfortunately does not have a Wholefoods. I’d be almost 100% complete living here if a Wholefoods existed.

How I write out most recipes. Good thing for a food blog. ;)

Before I left, I managed to pick up a bag of wheatberries from Wholefoods. I was impressed at how inexpensive they were and my goal was to remake the Wholefoods wheatberry salad here in El Paso. I used what was available in the house, so instead of dried cranberries I used dried cherries. The salad must have toasted pecans like the one at Wholefoods to make it more complete and for good crunch! We had a butternut squash that needed to be roasted and I thought that would be a good contrast to my salad as well.

Season with cinnamon, salt, pepper and extra virgin olive oil. Roast in a 400 degree F oven for approx. 30-40 minutes.

I dressed my wheatberry salad with a honey balsamic dijon dressing. All the flavors blended really well together and was lovely topped on some fresh romaine and spinach. This salad has so much texture and flavors from chewy to crunchy and sweet to savory. This lasted me for a few days and I always looked forward to lunch time!

Wheatberry Salad with Dried Cherries, Roasted Butternut Squash and Toasted Pecans By Fallon

Ingredients

3/4 cup dried wheatberries

3 cups water

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup roasted butternut squash

1/2 cup green onions, chopped

1/2 cup dried cherries

1/2 cup toasted pecans, in a nonstick skillet

Honey Balsamic Dijon Dressing

Ingredients

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1  teaspoon dijon mustard

1 1/2- 2 teaspoons honey

Salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl, add wheatberries and fill with water till they are covered. Let them soak for at least an hour. Once you have soaked the wheatberries, drain water and add to a large pot. Fill with 3 cups of water and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 45-50 minutes till water has dissolved and wheatberries are cooked. I checked on my wheatberries every 10 minutes and gave them a good stir. They are done when they are chewy and easily digestible. Shut off flame and let sit till completely cooled.

In the meantime, make the dressing. Add all the ingredients and use a whisk to bring everything together. Taste and adjust to your likings. I added a little more honey and plenty of salt and pepper. Set aside.

Once wheatberries have cooled, transfer to a mixing bowl. Add the butternut squash, dried cherries, toasted pecans and green onion, mix together.  Drizzle on the dressing a little at a time. You won’t need to use it all, just until everything is coated. Let sit for a few hours in the fridge and for all the flavors to come together. Serve this with grilled chicken, on top of a salad or great on it’s own as a snack!

  

Enjoy,

Fallon