Wheat Berry and Squash Salad

My diet has been a bit wonky lately. I like to eat healthfully without getting neurotic about it (there is this thing called dessert after all). I like to center that healthful diet on homemade food with whole ingredients. Sometimes, much to my regret (and not a little shame), however, homemade healthy food just doesn’t happen. Packaged food happens. Ugh!

And then I get a little inspiration and I figure out how to split tasks into reasonable pieces to fit into the time that I have. And something wonderful like this salad happens. Oh, hooray!

It’s a simple combination of cooked wheat berries, roasted butternut squash, and the seeds I happened to have in the cupboard (pepitas and sunflower seeds). I tossed all this with some fresh sage and a vinaigrette based on a locally-produced sunflower oil and cider vinegar, and sweetened with honey.

I loved this salad! I loved the crunch of the onion and the seeds alongside the chewy wheat berries and almost creamy squash. I loved the sweetness of the dressing with the sweet roasted squash. I loved the overall nuttiness of the wheat berries, sunflower seeds, and pepitas. I loved the earthy zing of the fresh sage throughout. This was so good when I made it for supper (accompanied by this black bean soup), and I think it was even better in my lunch the next day. This is one of the best recipes I tried this year!

While I used that delicious locally-produced, cold-expeller pressed sunflower oil, olive oil or walnut oil would be good, too. I had originally planned to use walnuts before I remembered the seeds I had in the pantry, and I still think they would be good. You could make the salad vegan by replacing the honey with maple syrup or agave nectar. You also could use a different kind of winter squash. You could make this all at one time or, like me, you could break up the tasks. For example, cook the wheat berries when you have time; roast and chill the squash another day; etc.

There are too many recipes out there that will casually state the need for peeled and chopped butternut or other winter squash, without any mention of just how much time and effort it takes to peel and cut up a squash. This site does not tolerate such pretense. I find peeling and chopping winter squash to be grueling labor. I delay making great stuff like this just because I know how long it’s going to take me to get my squash in this edible state. In the case of this salad, however, it was all worth it! Delicious!

Wheat Berry and Squash Salad with Seeds and Sage

2 cups peeled butternut squash, cut into ½ - 1 inch cubes

5 tablespoons sunflower or olive oil, divided

1 teaspoon coarse (kosher) salt, divided

2 cups cooked wheat berries

½ cup finely chopped onion

½ cup pepitas (hulled pumpkin seeds)

½ cup sunflower seeds

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

2 tablespoons honey

A few grinds black pepper

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Combine the cubed squash, 2 tablespoons olive oil and ½ teaspoon salt in a roasting pan or on a large sheet pan. Toss to coat the squash well. Roast at 400 F for about 30 minutes or until the squash is soft, but still holding its shape. Remove from the oven and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, combine the wheat berries, pepitas, sunflower seeds, sage and cooked squash.

3. In a small bowl, combine the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil, remaining ½ teaspoon salt, vinegar, honey, black pepper and Dijon mustard. Whisk together until smooth. Pour over the wheat berry mixture and gently toss to coat, being careful not to mash up the squash. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Serve at room temperature or chilled. Cover and chill leftovers, which will last a few days.

Makes about 6 side-dish servings.

Other recipes like this one: Wheat Berry Salad with Roasted Vegetables and Maple Walnut Vinaigrette, Farro and Apple Salad with Craisins, Farro and White Bean Salad with Fennel and Walnuts

Wheat Berry Salad with Kale Dressing

I grew this Red Russian kale. Really! And so when I wanted to eat it, I went searching for a recipe that would be interesting and flavorful, and maybe even something new that I could post here. Initially, I headed toward a barley and kale gratin recipe in Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.

I also grew these peas, and picked them the same day as I harvested the kale.

I intended to add these peas to the barley gratin, but then it got too hot to make a gratin in the oven, so I decided to make a salad. I can’t remember exactly why I made the switch from barley to wheat berries, but I think it was simply a matter of not having any barley cooked, but having just the right amount of cooked wheat berries in the freezer.

Anyway, I ended up using an idea from the original gratin recipe of sautéing and pureeing the kale and stirring it into the grains to envelop them with plenty of flavor and the color green. I cooked the kale in olive oil and a little garlic, cooled it, then processed it with some vinegar and a pinch of nutmeg. This became the dressing of my salad, which not only flavored the wheat berries and fresh peas, but also served to hold together these little round ingredients.

The kale “dressing” is much like a pesto, but the flavors are mellower than most raw-leaf sauces. Cooking the kale first softens its flavor somewhat, so it’s not so bitter. It also softens its texture, making it easier to process, and, frankly, a little easier to eat. The kale flavor is still quite present and earthy enough to compliment the sweet, fresh peas. This all goes well with the nice dose of grated Parmesan cheese I added to give a further flavor kick to the salad.

This salad is delicious, probably even more so because I picked the ingredients making up nearly half its volume just before tossing them together. It lasted several days in the refrigerator, with the leftovers making a fabulous brown-bag lunch. It was also a fun idea to see through from the garden to the gratin to the more seasonally appropriate but still hardy salad. And it looks like I should be able to grow enough kale to try that barley gratin some other day.

Wheat Berry Salad with Fresh Peas and Kale Dressing

Partially inspired by a recipe in Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison

8 ounces fresh kale (I used Red Russian, but other varieties would work, too)

¼ cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
¼ teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
2 tablespoons water
pinch nutmeg (preferably freshly-grated)
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons cooked wheat berries
1 cup fresh or frozen peas (thawed)
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese (I coarsely grated the cheese in a food processor)

1. Remove the tough stems from the kale. I like to hold the kale by the long stem and run my hand down the stem to strip off the leaves. Coarsely chop the leaves and discard the stems.

2. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the kale, garlic, salt and water. Cook, stirring often, until the kale is tender and well-wilted (it will still maintain some structure, rather than wilting completely like spinach), about 8-10 minutes.

3. Remove from the heat. Stir in the vinegar and nutmeg. Cool.

4. Transfer the cooled kale mixture to a food processor. Process until a coarse paste is formed, stopping to scrape the sides of the processor bowl as needed.

5. In a medium-size bowl, combine the wheat berries, peas and Parmesan. Add the kale mixture and stir everything together to combine well. Taste for seasoning and add additional salt or vinegar if desired.

Makes about 6 servings. Keep leftovers refrigerated for a few days.

Other recipes like this one: Three Grain Salad with White Beans and Artichokes, Wheat Berry Salad with Sugar Snap Peas and Lemon Vinaigrette, Quinoa and Spinach Casserole

 One year ago: Three Pea Salad with Walnuts and Parmesan

Wheat Berries and Bacon

All of the big late spring produce offerings will come tumbling in any minute. Before all that happens, however, my spring dishes may be cobbled together from season-less and early seasonal ingredients as well as a cheat or two. For example, I recently made a sort of pilaf with some cooked wheat berries I found in the freezer, a handful of arugula that I grew in a container on the porch, and a locally-grown hot-house tomato. All this trio needed was a serendipitous stumble onto a recipe that only needed a little tweaking to fit in. Well, that and some bacon.

The resulting dish is a sort of primitive, ultra-deconstruction of the BLT sandwich. The bacon flavor permeates every bite and the tomatoes and arugula (in place of lettuce) follow along nicely. The wheat berries make something as complicated as a couple slices of bread utterly unnecessary. Of course, they also make it pretty much impossible to eat with one’s hands.

That’s a small sacrifice for something this delicious. And if you don’t want to take the journey with me, you don’t have to see this as a deconstructed BLT. It doesn’t’ take much longer to make than a sandwich, however, assuming you’ve cooked the wheat berries ahead of time. (There’s more on cooking wheat berries in this post.)

I was really happy with the flavors and textures of this dish. The starchy chewiness of the wheat berries and the savory smokiness of the bacon are the dominant themes, but they’re nicely balanced by the acidity of the tomatoes and vinegar. I’d love to make it again right away, but I won’t. It’s time to move on. On to salad greens and asparagus and radishes and big bundles of fresh herbs. Besides, I gave my arugula a pretty drastic haircut and will have to wait for it to grow back anyway.

Wheat Berries with Bacon, Arugula and Tomato
Inspired by a recipe in Bon Appetit, September 2009

You can make this dish vegan by omitting the bacon and cooking the onions in about 2 tablespoons of olive oil or whatever oil you prefer.

4 strips thick-cut bacon
½ cup finely chopped onion
½ teaspoon coarse salt
1 ½ cup cooked wheat berries
1 medium tomato, cored and chopped
1 cup arugula leaves, chopped or torn
2 tablespoons white wine or cider vinegar
1/8 teaspoon black pepper (a few grinds from a pepper mill)

1. Cook the bacon in a medium-size skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove the bacon and drain on a paper towel. Pour off all but about 2 tablespoons of the rendered bacon fat.

2. Add the onion and salt to the bacon fat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and browned, about 5-7 minutes.

3. Add the wheat berries. Cook and stir about 1 minute. Add the tomato and arugula. Cook about 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the vinegar and black pepper. Cook 3-4 minutes more, stirring occasionally. The tomatoes and arugula should be well-wilted.

4. Crumble or chop the bacon. Sprinkle on top of the finished dish.

Makes 2 main-dish or about 4 side-dish servings.

Another recipe like this one: Wheat Berry Salad with Sugar Snap Peas and Lemon Vinaigrette

One year ago: Rhubarb Compote with Brown Sugar and Vanilla Bean

Two years ago: Chickpea and Olive Salad with Greek Flavors

Camping Salad

We recently took a little camping trip to Great River Bluffs State Park in southeastern Minnesota. This park has wooded hiking trails that lead to beautiful bluff prairies and fabulous Mississippi River views. Although the noise from I-90 and busy railroad tracks does encroach on the park, the preserved and reclaimed natural setting with its unique habitats and vistas goes well beyond refreshing and inspiring.

I do have a few personal rules when it comes to camping: 1) If at all possible it should be in a campground with a shower. 2) There must be something cushy between me and the ground when I try to sleep. And 3) The food has to be good.

A little planning allowed 1) and 2) to come together pretty well, and some additional planning and preparation were all that was needed to tackle 3). Among a few other things, I prepped and packed Peanut Butter Granola Bars (like these but made with peanut butter instead of almond butter), homemade Granola, homemade yogurt, Beet and Carrot Burgers (which were a disaster because I forgot a spatula), homemade jam and homemade wheat bread, and chocolate chip cookies. I also put together a salad, much like one I had made on request for my inlaws a few weeks ago when they came to visit. It’s simple, fresh, delicious and keeps and travels very well.

I made the salad with cooked wheat berries (I talked about cooking them here. You can freeze extras to have on hand.) and vegetables I happened to have in the refrigerator, including some crisp sugar snap peas and red bell pepper. (I also have used asparagus when making this when it’s in season). A handful of fresh herbs (from my container garden on the porch) and simple vinaigrette with fresh lemon juice, perk up the starchy wheat berries without being perishable like a mayonnaise or dairy-based dressing would be.

I also used garlic scapes to flavor this dish. Scapes are tender, dark green, curly stems that carry the immature flower buds of the garlic plant. They’re included in our CSA boxes in the spring as they are harvested to help the underground garlic bulbs become all that they can be. They’re probably hard to find unless you grow garlic or know someone who does. You may be able to get them at some farmers’ markets or stores that carry local and/or organic produce. The season is probably over for them by now, but mine have lasted very well in the refrigerator and I’m still using them.

Garlic scapes are milder in flavor than garlic cloves, but are stronger than chives or garlic chives. You can use them pretty much interchangeably with both garlic cloves and chives as long as you are prepared for the rather pleasant difference. I use them in soups and sauces in place of garlic, and hardly notice the difference as long as I use enough. You could use a small, finely-minced garlic clove in place of the scapes in this wheat berry salad if you really want the garlic flavor. If, however, you’re planning to snuggle into a tent with someone after eating it, be sure you’ve both achieved a good dose of garlic breath so no one causes offense.


This salad was great for camping meals. It’s refreshing (when kept cool), flavorful and quite healthy and doesn’t get mushy over time. In fact, the whole trip was a big success, with the exception of the accidental omission of one extremely important item. Under conditions ripe for the development of a DEET-based religion, there I was without my mosquito repellent. I’m still itching!

Wheat Berry Salad with Sugar Snap Peas and Lemon Vinaigrette
If you do not have garlic scapes, you could add a small, finely minced garlic clove instead, but the flavor is likely to be stronger.

2 cups cooked wheat berries
1 cup chopped sugar snap peas, trimmed, tough strings removed
½ cup finely chopped red bell pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic scapes (optional)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon coarse Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1. In a large bowl, combine the wheat berries, sugar snap peas, red bell pepper, garlic scapes, parsley and oregano.

2. In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice, mustard, salt, pepper and olive oil. Whisk well to combine completely. Pour over the wheat berry mixture and stir to combine and coat well.

Other recipes like this one: Grain Salad with White Beans and Artichokes, Wheat Berry Salad with Roasted Vegetables and Maple Walnut Vinaigrette (more of a fall or winter salad)

One year ago: Rhubarb Yogurt Cake

Three Grains are Better

I unearthed a recipe from a magazine for a salad with white beans, artichoke hearts and spelt, an Old World grain. The recipe looked great, but I was fresh out of spelt. Okay, so I’ve never owned a single kernel of it in my life. What I did have was a bag of cooked wheat berries in the freezer (leftover from when I made this salad.) But as long as I was putting a dent in what was in the freezer, I figured two grains might be better. I’d see what was in the cupboard as well. It turns out that the cupboard needs more attention than I thought, so if two grains were better, a three-grain salad must be on its way to greatness. I went with slightly exotic, but not unattainable: wheat berries, wild rice, and quinoa.

I’m probably not as scientific as I should be about cooking grains. I’ve got rice down pretty well, but, so I don’t have to memorize or look up ratios and recipes, I tend to just throw most other grains in a pot of water and boil them until they are tender. That’s how I cooked the wild rice and quinoa for this salad. It took about 20 minutes to cook the quinoa and about 40 minutes to cook the wild rice. The wheat berries, which I had cooked a while back, I first soaked for several hours (much like I would dried beans). This cuts the cooking time down from a couple hours to about 45 minutes. Cooking times of grains may vary depending on your source of raw materials. I usually cook much more than I need for a recipe and freeze the rest for quicker meals when things get busy.

I brought this salad to a potluck lunch at Harry’s workplace, and it received good reviews. I really like it too, and I think this might now be a regular resident in our refrigerator. The coats of the wheat berries pop as you chew them to reveal their starchy interiors, while the wild rice (which isn’t even a rice but a grass native to this part of the world) is chewy and earthy. The tiny quinoa grains fill in the gaps between the other grains, creamy beans and sort of leafy artichokes. The lemon vinaigrette is super-simple (just lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper) but cuts through the stodgy beans and grains to liven and brighten them up.

While these three grains seem to compliment each other well, you could probably use other grains such as brown rice, barley, or even corn. You could change up the type of beans, add different vegetables or tinker with the dressing. Before long, you’d have a completely different recipe. I better stop now before I give away all my secrets to recipe development and you won’t have a reason to read The Messy Apron any more!

Three Grain Salad with White Beans and Artichokes
Modified from Cooking Light Magazine

I used canned artichoke hearts. The brand I used listed only artichoke hearts, water, salt and citric acid (to prevent browning) in the ingredient list. You could use frozen artichokes, and I have included the approximate equivalent to the weight of the drained canned variety.

1 cup cooked wheat berries
1 cup cooked quinoa
1 cup cooked wild rice
½ cup finely chopped fresh parsley
¼ cup finely chopped red onion
1 ½ cups (about 1 15-ounce can) white beans, such as navy, Great Northern or cannellini, drained and rinsed (I used some I had cooked myself and froze)
1 14-ounce can (or about 8 ounces frozen) artichoke hearts, drained (or thawed) and coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon salt (plus more to taste, if desired)
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. In a large bowl combine the wheat berries, quinoa, wild rice, parsley, onion, beans and artichoke hearts.

2. In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice, olive oil, ½ teaspoon salt and pepper. Whisk until well-combined. Pour over the wheat berry mixture and stir to mix the ingredients together and coat them well with the dressing. Taste the salad for salt and add more if desired. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Makes 6-8 servings.

Resolutions: Wheat Berry/Roasted Veg Salad

I am not the type of person to keep New Year’s resolutions. Notice I did not say that I’m not the type to make resolutions. I tend to set such gigantic and unreachable goals that it’s just as well that I tend to forget what they even were by about late February. Such a selective memory saves me a lot of regret and embarrassment.


It seems that most folks resolve each year to either live more healthfully (lose weight, lower their cholesterol, stop smoking, go to the gym every day) or save or make more money. I think you can do both of these things together by making certain food and cooking choices. Most of us can probably cook for ourselves and our families more often, saving some cash by lowering the restaurant bill and buying less expensive whole foods (bulk beans and grains are particularly inexpensive). We can also save money by taking advantage of seasonal bounty and respecting our leftovers. You worked hard to purchase and prepare those foods, so don’t throw the leftovers away!

This all, of course, takes time, which is something most of us don’t exactly possess in abundance. (Better time management is probably one of those popular but pesky resolutions as well.) A little planning can help, such as cooking up some whole grains a few days ahead and setting aside some leftover seasonal vegetables. You can then toss them together with an easy vinaigrette that you know by heart and for which you always have the ingredients. Now you have a lovely salad. If you use cooked wheat berries, leftover Roasted Vegetables and Maple-Walnut Vinaigrette, you have the salad I made this week.

If you are not familiar with wheat berries, they are not berries at all, but unprocessed grains of wheat. When cooked, they are quite chewy and nutty and don’t tend to get mushy, at least in my experience, like rice or barley can. They can take up to two hours to cook, but I tried soaking them overnight, as I would dried beans, and was able to cook them in a large pot with plenty of water in about 45 minutes. You can probably find them where other whole grains are sold, such as a bulk foods or health food store, or in one of those fancy organic departments that all a supermarkets now seem to have.

Like any resolutions, simultaneously saving money and improving your diet may best be taken slowly. You might not like wheat berries or Maple Walnut Vinaigrette, so try another grain or another vinaigrette. The point is to make your life as reasonable as possible, and perhaps good-tasting, too. Try not to stress about it. You don’t want to bite off more than you can chew. That can be (literally) both unhealthy and expensive.





Wheat Berry Salad with Roasted Vegetables and Maple Walnut Vinaigrette

3 cups cooked wheat berries
2 cups leftover Roasted Vegetables, cut into ¼- ½ inch pieces
½ cup chopped walnuts, toasted
1 recipe Maple Walnut Vinaigrette

1. In a large bowl toss together the wheat berries, Roasted Vegetables and walnuts. Pour the Maple Walnut Vinaigrette over the mixture and toss to coat.

Makes 6-8 servings and lasts a few days in the refrigerator, as long as the Roasted Vegetables are no more than a day or two old themselves.