Winter Wheat Berry Salad

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Sometimes I get random ideas for recipes. I don’t know when they’re going to strike, but when they do I can’t get them out of my mind!! Well, last week when I went to Panera Bread with my hunny for a little mid-week lunch date, I saw a sign for their new salads with wheat berries. I pretty much thought that was BRILLIANT and proceeded to think about the different salad combinations I could do with wheat berries the following 4 1/2 days.

Well, I’m in Chicago as you probably know and…..guess what? I made my friend take me to whole foods so I could make this wheat berry salad. She thought I was crazy, but then she took a bite of the salad and understood.

It’s goooooooood.

I call it a winter power salad. Why? Because I think that’s what Panera was calling their salads?! I saw a sign for “winter salad” in their window….or some other restaurants window……whatevs. This salad includes: Kale. Roasted butternut squash. Crumbled feta cheese. Chopped pistachios. Wheat berries. Craisins. And it’s all tossed together with my favorite Maple Tarragon salad dressing.

Lots of goodies in here. AND, they all taste amazing together. There are some unlikely pairings involved, but I swear you will not be able to put your fork down…EVEN THOUGH IT’S HEALTHY 🙂 Come see for yourself!

The only real thing you could mess up is roasting the squash. Peel and cut your squash into 1/4 inch pieces. Toss in a little olive oil, salt and pepper and bake.You want to get these tender with a little color on them, like so! Let these cool a little.

The wheat berries are something else that need to get cooked. Basically, you rinse them, throw them into a pot with water and salt and cook the life out of them. It’s like cooking rice, but for twice as long. I recommend making a big batch and throwing what you don’t use into the fridge for later.
Throw the rest of the ingredients into a serving bowl, toss with some dressing and that’s it! A nutrient rich, amazing, crunchy, creamy, HEALTHY {!} salad. It’s a great way to get a few veggies into your family during the colder months of the year. Here’s the recipe. Enjoy your weekend 🙂

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5 from 1 vote

Winter Wheat Berry Salad

Need something healthy and hearty? Try out this amazing Winter Wheat Berry Salad! It's got lots of goodies to keep you healthy and strong!

servings 4 servings

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

for the squash-

• ▢ 1 lb butternut squash but into 1/4 inch cubes
• ▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ▢ salt & pepper

for the wheatberries-

• ▢ 1/2 cup hard red wheat berries
• ▢ 1 1/2 cups water
• ▢ salt to taste

for the rest of the salad-

• ▢ 8 cups baby kale
• ▢ 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
• ▢ 1/4 cup chopped pistachios
• ▢ 1/4 cup craisins
• ▢ 1 recipe my Maple Tarragon salad dressing

US Customary – Metric

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Toss squash with olive oil, salt and pepper and place on baking sheet in one even layer. Bake 10 minutes, turn and bake another 10 minutes until browned and soft. Remove from oven and set aside.
• Rinse wheat berries in cold water. Drain. Place wheatberries + water into small saucepan and sprinkle with salt. Cover and bring to boil. Reduce to simmer and cook covered for 45-50 minutes or until cooked. These will usually stay pretty chewy, fyi.
• In a large serving bowl, toss kale, feta, pistachios, craisins, roasted squash and wheat berries together with my favorite salad dressing. Serve.

Nutrition

Calories: 331kcal | Carbohydrates: 52g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 11mg | Sodium: 202mg | Potassium: 1136mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 25525IU | Vitamin C: 185mg | Calcium: 339mg | Iron: 4mg

Course: Salad

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Wheat Berry Salad