Wild Rice and Wheat Berry Salad with Cranberries and Pine Nuts

Serves 10

Recipe from Raising the Salad Bar by Catherine Walthers

Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

The combination of wild rice and wheat berries makes a hearty dish that’s filled out with dried cranberries, diced apple and buttery pine nuts. The citrus vinaigrette is really delicious and could be used for other salads too. This dish is perfect for a holiday or fall party because the salad can be made up to a day in advance. It would be especially yummy served along with roasted turkey, chicken or pork. As you can see this salad turned out to be quite eye appealing as well.

Salad

¾ cup wheat berries, rinsed

1 cup wild rice

1 ½ teaspoons Kosher salt

2/3 cup dried cranberries

½ cup thinly sliced celery

1 crisp apple, peeled and diced (Add this just before serving, if making in advance or the apple will turn brown)

½ cup minced flat leaf parsley

¼ cup pine nuts (I toasted these in a dry skillet.)

Citrus Vinaigrette

grated zest of 1 lemon

1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

grated zest of 1 orange

½ cup fresh orange juice (It took two small oranges for this)

2 Tablespoons raspberry vinegar (The recipe said you could also use Champagne, rice or balsamic vinegar, but, I haven’t “husband-tested” these yet)

1 Tablespoon finely minced shallot

2 teaspoons honey

¼ cup olive oil

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

In a large pot, bring 4 quarts of water and the wheat berries to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 35 minutes.  Add the wild rice and salt to the pot.  Bring to a boil again, lower the heat, then simmer and cook, partially covered, for an additional 50 to 55 minutes or until both grains are cooked.  Many of the wild rice grains will have split somewhat, but they will still have a little bite.  The wheat berries will be plump and slightly chewy.  Drain well.  Stir in the dried cranberries and let the mixture cool completely.

Meanwhile, put all of the vinaigrette ingredients in a jar with a lid and set aside until it’s time to serve the salad.

In a large serving bowl, combine the cooled grains and cranberries with the celery, apple and parsley. 

Just before serving, shake the jar of vinaigrette well to combine.  Pour over the salad, mix will and top with the pine nuts.  Serve at room temperature.

Slow Cooker Multigrain Cereal

Adapted from The Healthy Slow Cooker

Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

Making a warm multigrain cereal in a slow cooker is very convenient to prepare breakfast, especially for a busy workweek. Measure the ingredients and place them in the slow cooker before bedtime and when you awake, you’ll have a warm, healthful belly-filling breakfast to get your day off to a great start. Brown rice, wheat berries and millet can be found in the bulk section at Lost River Market & Deli.

You will need a large slow cooker to make this recipe. It needs to be big enough to put a 4-cup glass-measuring cup or glass loaf pan inside.  

In a 4-cup glass-measuring cup, stir together 2 cups of water, 1 cup of milk, 1/2 cup of whole grains (I use ¼ cup millet, 1/8 cup brown basmati rice and 1/8 cup of whole wheat berries) and a pinch of salt.  You can also add a shredded apple, ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice and ¼ teaspoon of real vanilla.    *You can use ½ cup steel cut oats in place of the grains.

Place the cup inside a large slow cooker.

Pour enough water BETWEEN the glass measuring cup and the inside lining of the slow cooker (see photo) to come to about halfway up the outside of the measuring cup. 

(When I make this, it takes about 4 cups of water for it to come halfway up.)  Doing this will keep the cereal from scorching and will make cleanup a lot easier.

Put the lid on the slow cooker. Set the slow cooker to LOW. Go to bed and get a good night's sleep. When I did this, it was 10 p.m. and I woke up at 7 a.m. (From others who have made this, overnight is pretty flexible because the water bath slows everything down. I'd say "overnight" is not less than 6 hours and not more than 9 hours.)  When you wake up refreshed and ready to go, the multigrain cereal will be perfectly cooked. The glass cup will be quite warm, so be sure to use oven mitts to lift it out of the slow cooker.  Put some of your perfectly cooked oats in a bowl and add your favorite embellishments.

Try adding a bit of almond butter, a touch of local honey or real maple syrup, a banana, some pecans, almonds or walnuts and a few dried cranberries or raisins.

My husband adds pumpkin seeds, walnuts, lots of cinnamon, prunes, dried apricots, ground flax seed, plain Greek yogurt, skim milk and to top it all off, he adds berries.

Sprinkling your morning cereal with just 1 Tablespoon of wheat germ will significantly boost your nutrient intake. It contains fiber and vitamin E, along with a wide range of minerals.  It also contains healthy omega-3 fats.

If you have cooked multigrain cereal left over, you can put it in an airtight container and chill it in the fridge, and then you can just zap them in the microwave the next day.

Blue Dog Bakery & Café-Inspired Wheat Berry Salad

Serves 8-10

Husband-Tested Recipe from Alice’s Kitchen

My husband and I recently had a very pleasant lunch at the Blue Dog Bakery & Café in Louisville, KY.  It was a lovely day, so we sat outside on the walk and watched the trains go by.  The meal was fabulous, sharing an incredibly delicious tuna salad, a soup featuring sweet corn and poblano peppers and a fancy summer berry cream tart, but the star of the lunch was the wheat berry salad.  As I ate it, I wrote down all the ingredients I could see and taste.  The waitress did say that it had walnut oil in it.  She also said that they vary the dried fruit.  Ours that day had raisins.  Friends of ours said they’ve had it with currants.  I love dried cranberries, so I used those.  Later on, I made a quick trip to Lost River Market & Deli for some winter wheat berries (from their bulk section) and made what I think is a very close version of Blue Dog’s salad.  It takes a bit of time to make because wheat berries take over an hour to cook, but once the berries are cooked, the salad comes together quickly.  Make this a day before you plan to serve it because it will taste even better the next day.  Perfect for a party or a picnic.

3 cups cooked wheat berries* (About 1 cup raw.)

2 cups (10 ounces) frozen lima beans, cooked per package directions

1/8 cup walnut oil

6 Tablespoons sunflower or canola oil

1/8 cup raspberry wine vinegar or sherry vinegar

1 cup dried cranberries, raisins or currants (Plump the dried fruit in very hot water for about 15 minutes.)

1 cup walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped

2 cups diced celery

1 shallot, minced or 1 cup sliced scallions

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Place the warm, cooked and drained wheat berries in a large bowl. The wheat berries should be soft, but slightly chewy. After draining the lima beans, add them to the wheat berries and toss to combine. Combine walnut oil, sunflower oil and vinegar. Add to the winter berry/lima bean mixture. Toss. When bean mixture has cooled a bit, add the dried fruit, walnuts, celery and shallots. Toss. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

*Cooking Winter Wheat Berries using the Rice Cooker:  Place 1 cup of raw wheat berries in a dry skillet over medium-high heat.  Toast, stirring constantly, until the grains pop and deepen in color, about 4 minutes.  (This step is optional, but I think it adds a nice toasty flavor.)  Place the wheat berries in the rice cooker bowl and cover with hot water; let soak in the machine for 1 hour.  Drain the wheat berries and return them to the rice cooker bowl.  Add 1 cup of water and a pinch of salt; swirl to combine.  Close the cover and set for the regular/Brown Rice cycle.  When the machine switches to the Keep Warm cycle, let the wheat berries steam for 15 minutes. Fluff with a wooden spoon or rice paddle. (Recipe from The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook, also Husband-Tested)  

*Cooking Winter Wheat Berries using the Stovetop:  Add 1 cup of winter wheat berries to a large saucepan filled with enough salted water to cover them by a few inches.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, partially cover and cook the wheat berries until they are plump and tender, about 75 to 90 minutes.  Test as you cook; cooked wheat berries are still somewhat chewy.  Drain. (Also Husband-Tested)  

Wheat Berry Breakfast

Recipe from 101 Cookbooks

Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen
Serves 6

When I asked my husband to taste test this healthy breakfast, he agreed, but without very much enthusiasm.  He always thinks I’m plotting to pull him out of his Steel Cut Oats in the Crockpot breakfast rut.  To make my offer seem safer, I told him I’d make it for his supper.  After my husband tried this, he said, “Wow! I didn’t see that coming!” He absolutely loved it!  I did too.  He later told me, “You know, you could put this in a pie and bake it.”  Hmmm.  He may have something there.  Well, back to the recipe.  Wheat berries can be found in the bulk section of Lost River Market & Deli (or your favorite health food store.) When cooked, they are delightfully chewy. Mixed in with the wheat berries are sautéed pears and fresh cranberries, toasted pecans and a selection of dried fruit.  Drizzle this delicious pile with a mixture of non fat Greek plain yogurt and maple syrup and you’ll have the fuel you need to get your day off to a great start!  Just 

¼ cup of plain cooked wheat berries = 150 calories, 6 grams fiber, 32 grams carbohydrates, 6 grams protein and that's not counting all the other healthy ingredients in this breakfast! 

The original recipe yielded 6 servings.  Since it was just the two of us, I prepared the 3 cups of wheat berries as called for in the original recipe and then I only used half of the prepared wheat berries for this dish and halved the rest of the ingredients.  I used the other half of the prepared wheat berries to make Wheat Berry Salad with Citrus Dressing later.  The recipe below is the original recipe.  Be sure to try this for your next Meatless Monday meal.  If your mornings are rushed, prepare the yogurt mixture and cook the wheat berries the night before and store in the fridge.  In the morning, you can prepare the rest in the time it takes to brew your coffee!

The night before:

Combine 2 cups wheat berries (I used winter wheat berries) 6 cups water, and 2 teaspoons Kosher salt in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer, covered, until plump and chewy, about an hour or so. (While the wheat berries are cooking, go for a walk or watch an hour of your favorite t.v. show.)  The only way to be sure they're done is to taste a few. Drain and set aside to cool.  Cover and refrigerate until you are ready to use them.  (This should yield 3 cups of cooked wheat berries which you will need for this dish.*)

Whisk 1 cup Greek non fat plain yogurt and ¼ cup maple syrup together in a bowl.  Cover and refrigerate until you are ready to use. 

The next morning:

Core and chop into ¼ inch cubes, 2 firm pears.  (Apples would be a good substitute.) Set aside.  Place a large skillet over medium high heat.  Add ½ cup pecans. (You could certainly substitute with walnuts.)  Stir these around a few minutes until toasty and fragrant.  Pour out the pecans onto a cutting board to cool.  (If you wish, you can chop the pecans up a bit.)  In the same skillet, add a scant Tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil and a scant Tablespoon of unsalted butter.  When the olive oil/butter begins to sizzle, add chopped pears.  Sauté the pears in the olive oil and butter for about five minutes, or until they get a bit golden.  Add ½ cup fresh cranberries (I had cranberries left over from Thanksgiving in the freezer and just used some of those.  I thawed them in the fridge the night before.) Cook for another minute or so - just until the cranberries soften up a bit and a few of them begin to split open.  Add the 3 cups of cooked wheat berries,* the pecans and 1/2 cup assorted dried fruits, chopped (I used dried currants and dried apricots.  Raisins would be nice. The original recipe called for dried persimmons, dates, and crystallized ginger) to the skillet and toss gently.  Turn out onto a platter or serve in individual bowls ladled with a generous amount of the maple yogurt.