Sunday I deemed it “no-tech” day. My husband and I have both noticed that now that we are running our own businesses we’re feeling a bit tethered to our mobile devices. On Friday we decided to devote as much of our Saturday as necessary to work so that we could actually walk away from technology on Sunday. I did client work. I wrote my Sunday and Monday blog posts, and I even let my friends on my personal Facebook page know I was disappearing for the day.
It was wonderful.
I read two newspapers Sunday morning and did two crossword puzzles. And then I got my rear-end back into the kitchen for some good old-fashioned bulk cooking and meal planning! I started by making a big batch of vegetable broth. I had a lot of the usual veggie scraps: carrots, celery, onion, garlic, romaine lettuce and spinach, but the real stars of this broth were the sweet peppers. I seasoned the broth with turmeric, fennel seed and dill and cooked it in the pressure cooker for 15 minutes. From there I used the broth to make a batch of quinoa in the rice cooker and wheat berries in the pressure cooker. While I was cooking I went through the freezer to set a few things out to thaw for the week: tofu, Beyond Meat strips and crumbled seitan. We’re moving in a few weeks so I’m doing my best to “shop” from my freezer and pantry before going grocery shopping for fresh food.
Speaking of moving, want a few teaser shots of the progress on the condo? The painters were in and out last week.
The kitchen floor was replaced over the weekend.
We have two and a half baths – all were covered in carpet (and the carpet went all the way up the side of one of the bathtubs!) – and now all are carpet-free. Hallelujah!
Much, much more to do in the next two weeks (like get the rest of the carpet out of that place!), but we’re getting there!
Now, where were we? Ah yes, I made meal plans for the week with the grains I used from the pantry and the goodies I found in the freezer. But what to do with those wheat berries? We were invited to a BBQ on Sunday night so I decided to make a very easy grain salad.
Wheat Berry and Red Bean Salad
by
Keywords: salad entree vegan beans wheat berries
Ingredients (Serves 8)
- 1 cup dry wheat berries
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 1 can kidney beans
- 1 diced carrot (about one cup)
- 1 diced apple (about one cup)
- 1 teaspoon fresh dill
- 1/2 teaspoon iodized sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons macadamia nut oil (or extra virgin olive oil)
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar (I used a fig-infused balsamic)
Instructions
Cook dry wheat berries and vegetable broth according to the package instructions.
Fluff the cooked wheat berries and let cool on the counter while assembling the rest of the salad ingredients.
Drain the can of beans.
Dice the carrot and apple.
Gently toss the beans, carrot and apple with the wheat berries.
Add the dill, salt, pepper, oil and vinegar and lightly toss.
Tightly cover and refrigerate before serving.
I used my Cinnamon Tofu marinade (page 297 of Vegan for Her) to prepare four tofu steaks to take for the grill.
I had a veritable vegan feast at a decidedly not vegan BBQ … and the Wheat Berry and Red Bean salad bowl was empty at the end of the night! Vegan Victory!
How do you use wheat berries?
6 thoughts on “Wheat Berry and Red Bean Salad recipe”
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Carpet on a bathtub!! That’s madness. Glad you took care of that. And wheat berries are one of my fave grains. I need to eat them more often. Love the chewiness.
Seriously, @a2da25b31bb18ec3b56b64a7de22d4cc:disqus, the carpet on the bathtub gave me the creeps! LOVE the chewiness of the wheat berry, too. You feel like you had a big ole hearty meal!
I’ve only had wheat berries a few times, and I’ve never made them myself… Not sure why, because I always like them! So exciting about the renovations!!
Thanks, @disqus_OVSwN88GCU:disqus! It’s countdown time – MUCH to accomplish in the next 15 days. Eek (and yay).
Carpet in the bathroom? What were they thinking? Everything is looking great. I think this recipe may be my new favorite way to have wheat berries.
I won a copy of Vegan For Her, & I’m loving this book! Great job by both you & Ginny.
@jacqui_p:disqus, our running joke is that they build the condo in 1986 and it never left the 80’s! 🙂 Thank you SO MUCH for the feedback on Vegan for Her!