I deemed that this week is officially my Get Back On Track Week!
Over the past few weeks, my eating, exercise, and home life/work routines have been all over the place.
Wait, who am I kidding, my life has been all over the place since September actually!
My goal for the next few days is to get organized and get back on track, hopefully achieving a nice balance once again. I absolutely love the last week of the year to get organized for the new year ahead. This week, I will also be talking about my goals for 2011 and I will be going over last year’s goals to see how I did.
Many of you expressed interest in the salad that my mother-in-law made, so I thought today would be a great time to do a recipe post on a healthy salad that makes for a great ‘getting back on track’ dish! I am just in love with this salad. It is in my Top 5 all-time favourite salads for sure.
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Back On Track Wheat Berry and Bean Salad
Adapted from Alive Magazine.
Yield: 7.5-8 cups
Salad Ingredients:
- 1 cup dry wheat berries, cooked and drained
- 2 cups/500 ml cooked navy beans (I was out so I used chickpeas!)
- 1 English cucumber, diced
- 1 red pepper, diced
- 1 large tomato, diced
- 2 large garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup fresh parsley, diced with large stems removed
- 4 green onions, diced
- Kosher salt + pepper, to taste
Dressing Ingredients:
- 2-4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, to taste (I used 2 tbsp)
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp hot mustard (I used regular)
- 1 tbsp Tamari
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Directions: In a medium bowl, soak the wheat berries overnight in cold water. The next day, drain the wheat berries and place in a medium sized pot, covered in 3 inches of water. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium and simmer for 1 hour. Drain and cool.
In a large bowl, mix together the diced vegetables (cucumber, red pepper, tomato, minced garlic, parsley, green onions). Add in cooked and drained navy beans (or other bean of choice) and stir.
In a small bowl whisk together the dressing ingredients (olive oil, balsamic vinegar, mustard, Tamari, fresh lemon juice). Set aside.
When the wheat berries are ready, drain and rinse and then stir into the salad. Add the dressing just before serving and stir well. Now season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Garnish with additional parsley if desired.
Yield: 7.5-8 cups.
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Gather up the troops and the wheat berries that you soaked overnight! Place the wheat berries in a medium sized pot covered with 3 inches of water and simmer on medium for 1 hour.
While the wheat berries are cooking, dice your little heart out.
You want the veggies diced very small.
Stir the veggies together in a large bowl and set aside.
Now make your dressing with Tamari, EVOO, balsamic vinegar, hot mustard (I didn’t have any), and fresh lemon juice.
I decided to try reducing the oil in this recipe by half and it turned out amazing! I actually think I liked the dressing better with 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil vs. 4 tbsp. It really made the balsamic vinegar pop.
Whisk.
I realized that I didn’t have any navy beans after all, so I decided to use chickpeas instead.
After 1 hour of simmering, I drained and rinsed the wheat berries.
Add them in and stir well.
Add dressing and mix again.
Season with kosher salt and pepper to taste.
Serve!
One of my favourite salads of all time. It has so many amazing flavours and textures and it is high in protein and fibre too! I think this was my first time trying wheat berries too. They add such a great texture to salads. I will definitely be buying more in the future!
It makes about 8 cups worth. Enough to fuel the week ahead.
Now that the holidays are drawing to a close, are you thinking about getting back on track or re-organizing your life in some way?
Hi Angela! I’m having a friend over for dinner soon, and I decided to make this recipe (Your recipes never fail!). I already bought all the ingredients and I just found out my friend is sensitive to garlic. Would this recipe still work without the garlic?
Thanks in advance!
Yes im sure it would still be fine :) Goodluck!
All of your recipes are excellent and so are the professional photos.
Just saw the site and thought all of the meal recipes are nutritious and fresh.
Excellent site
I am planning on making this DELICIOUS looking recipe for my in-laws tomorrow night at a dinner I am hosting, and needless to say they are unfamiliar with vegan eating. What would be good options to serve alongside this salad that would knock their socks off? I love making soups (but am unsure of flavors that would be harmonious with this salad) and I thought perhaps something like that and maybe some roasted mushrooms or a large portobello but would also like to stay seasonal. Suggestions would be appreciated! Thank you!
Hi Abby, Yes this salad tends to do well at potlucks. I’d also recommend my favourite salad – lightened up goddess bowl found here: http://ohsheglows.com/2011/05/12/lightened-up-protein-power-goddess-bowl/
Thank you, Angela! I hadn’t seen that recipe for the goddess bowl and that looks perfect! I have made several of your soups and have lots of favorites, but I want to try all new recipes for this dinner I’m hosting. Do you think the carrot ginger apple soup would be a good pairing? Thanks for your help!
This salad is lovely! We made it with tomato and steamed broccoli instead of capsicum. It was amazing! The flavour had a lovely depth. Very nice! I like wheat berries too.
This is what I made today – starting a new school year with my fav salad. I’m set for the week. Thanks so much once again for this recipe – I so enjoy it.
Hi Angela!
I made this for dinner tonight, and boy was it delicious! We gobbled it right up and felt great afterward.
I just have to ask though – how in the world do you get your wheat berries to look so scrumptious?? I followed your directions precisely, but when I looked at the wheat berries this morning after soaking them overnight, they were all split and ugly, though they tasted just great in the salad ;) Any tips?
Thanks!
Hmm I’m not sure, I may have undercooked them? lol.
Great recipe! I am going to make it! Thank u!
Amazing website ! Awesome recipes ! I just recreated this never cooked wheatberries before they salad doesn’t look as pretty as yours but it’s delicious
Thank You can’t wait for your book
Hey Angela, we made this for dinner last night with all the subs you made and my whole family thought it was delicious! I had leftovers for lunch today and I’m thinking it will definitely become a staple around here
This is a great salad. Easy and delicious. Great warm weather salad.
Is there anything I can sub the wheat berry for? Thank you :)
I’m sure you could used quinoa or spelt berries even rice. And grain would fit I think.
Yum! This salad was so refreshing. It made a lot but was really good and ,are look forward to lunch :)
What can i use instead of tamari?
Thank you, recipe I’ve ever tried in combination with peanut sauce and the kids really liked this salad
healthy food is very good for families, I would try to make it