I almost peed myself this morning when I saw the amount the fundraiser has raised so far!!
I am THRILLED beyond belief and I can’t thank you enough. Let’s see how much we can raise in the next 12 hours! I also appreciate those of you who are spreading the word and posting about the fundraiser on Twitter and Facebook. Thank you for rallying for such an important cause.
Pipe Dreams
This is a little story called Pipe Dreams.
Growing up, two of my idols were Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod from Body Break. You may have heard of them. They are a pretty big deal.
And because I was so cool, I decided to email them at the ripe age of 17 years old, asking them to hire me. Yes, at 17. My momma always told me you miss all the chances you don’t take!
In a lengthy and passionate email, I told them exactly why I was the perfect candidate for this made up job. My love for fitness and nutrition made me a great fit for Body Break! I dreamed of us cycling around town together, hiking on the trails, and enjoying mini bags of grapes and trail mix as we chatted about phytonutrients.
In closing of my email, as a last desperate attempt, I believe I offered to work for FREE!
Need less to say, working with Hal and Joanne didn’t pan out, but I guess when life gives you lemons you just cook with them, right?
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Carrot Raisin Spelt Berry Salad with Cumin and Cilantro
Adapted from Leslie Beck, RD.
Yield: 3 cups
Ingredients:
- 1 cup uncooked spelt (or wheat) berries
- 4 medium sized carrots, peeled and chopped into small 1/4” pieces
- 1.5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp Balsamic vinegar
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp paprika
- Pinch or two of red pepper flakes (or ground red pepper)
- 1/3 cup raisins
- 1 tsp kosher salt + freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 bunches of Cilantro, stems removed and minced (yield about 5-6 tbsp minced)
Directions:
1. Place spelt berries in a pot and cover with water to 2 inches above the berries. Bring to a boil and then simmer on medium until tender, about 35-45 minutes. Add more water if necessary.
2. Meanwhile, chop and prepare your veggies. In a medium sized bowl, stir together the chopped carrots, olive oil, minced garlic cloves, lemon juice, vinegar, cumin, paprika, red pepper flakes and raisins. Stir well and add into a large saucepan. Cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes or so. You just want to lightly cook this mixture. After about 5 minutes of cooking, place back into the bowl.
3. When the spelt berries are cooked, drain and rinse. Now stir them into the carrot mixture. Stir in your cilantro, salt, and pepper to taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. I added another teaspoon of olive oil. Serve warm or cold. Makes about 3 cups.
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This salad rocked my world! It’s so pretty, isn’t it?
I adapted this recipe from my homegirl, Leslie Beck, RD. I call her homegirl because I feel like I know her personally (I don’t).
But, I have been reading her column in the Globe and Mail for a long time now and I feel like we are BFF’s.
Maybe she feels the same way?
A girl can dream.
This recipe turned out fantastic! The flavour is very unique…almost hard to put a finger on. The raisins added a fun pop of sweetness as a nice contrast to the tangy and fresh lemon dressing.
We also really loved the texture of this salad. It was super chewy! Chew, chew, chew. Just love that.
Eric preferred it heated up while I enjoyed it cold. It works both ways. He also said he would like more raisins next time, but I won’t get into his obsession with raisins… ;)
zomg Body Break! Any time I meet someone with the name Hal (which believe it or not, has happened 3 times in my adult life) I breakout (in my head of course) to the sound of their intro song. Best ever. I loved that show.
Ive had that song i my head ALL MORNING LONG. lol
This recipe looks fantastic, carrots+raisins= a great combo. :D
The texture of the chewiness sounds awesome…I really wish I could eat wheatberries! And the raisins and spices and herbs and carrots…mmm, good!
I came up with a recipe for what I call Curried Ginger & Raisin Lentils which has lentils, carrots, raisins, cinnamon, ginger…more of the “warming” spices. I would love to try your flavor combo and see how the raisins blend with the smoky spices and cilantro….bet it’s SUPER tasty!
As and usual, gorgeous photography, Angela :)
Hmmmm this looks wonderful :D Is spelt berry anything in between pearl barley and wheatberry perhaps? Have a great day!
What a tasty salad! Looks delicious. And the photos are amazing, of course. Thanks for the recipe.
Your personal story is such an inspiration! I just wanted to tell you that I love your blog and I even blogged about you in my new blog! I hope that was okay, I am new to blogging and I don’t know the rules, lol!
thanks so much! Of course I dont mind :)
carrot+cumin=happiest food marriage, ever. I love raisins in salads, when they soak up the juices and burst in your mouth…so delightful.
Mmm this salad looks great! I have all the ingredients except for spelt berries… hmmm maybe I’ll make a quinoa salad instead?
What a beautiful beautiful dish! So vibrant!
Why oh why does almost every cafe in Canberra just sell chicken caesar salads and a “garden” salad that is lettuce, onion, olives, and tomato? Why oh why don’t more people have your wonderful creative ideas?
Thanks for sharing your story about your idols… to funny!!
This salad looks good.. I have never cooked with spelt berries.. or wheat berries as a matter of fact. Maybe I should make this salad for a first!
Ditto about Leslie Beck! I don’t get the Globe & Mail at my apartment at uni, but my dad always mails me her columns! Love her! And love the looks of this salad too. Definitely bookmarking it!
I’ve had some wheatberries in my pantry forever and finally got to use them when I whipped this up for lunch this morning. They chew factor was great. Thanks for this recipe.
hmm….i think i’d meet you both in the middle: extra raisins served cold. thanks for sharing! :)
I love raisins in grain dishes. This dish is right up my alley. Now I just need to buy some spelt berries. I’ve been craving them!
LOL… wow, ok I thought I was a big fan of Body Break. You take the cake for applying to work for them, though!
To this day, I still run the jingle “Body Bre-eaak…body break!” in my mind when making Hal’s apple bran muffins cookies. Just trying to keep fit and have fun…
the song is still in my head even after American idol!
hahaha your post made me LOL! looks delicious :)
This looks awesome! I have some wheat berries and I was wondering what to do with them. I’ll definitely be trying this out. Oh and you’ve raised a lot! The fundraiser is such a great idea! It’s amazing seriously. I’ll do my part and help out as well :]
This looks fabulous and I coincidentally have all of the ingredients for it. I can’t wait to make this. Thanks!!
Oh bodybreak!
I have the tune of it in my head now.
Those were the days, eh?
I have been meaning to try spelt berries and this recipe sounds delicious, I can’t wait to try it!!
Wow, It’s amazing how much you’ve raised!!!!
I actually live in Japan (in a completely unaffected area), and on behalf of everyone else out here, thank you! It’s really amazing to see people coming together to try to help out.
:)
What a beautiful looking lunch
What a pretty salad!
This salad looks amazing, your pictures are beautiful. Good job on raising money for Japan!
blogged about this dish today on my site! Loved it!
Love the combination of ingredients in this dish! It looks fantastic!
YUM! Carrots and Raisins are some of my favorites! :D I want to try this with wheat berries! Will it change the texture/taste very much? I don’t think it will, but I just wondered what you thought. :)
xoxo
Kathleen
Mmmmmmmm, cilantro!!!!
Perfect timing! I was hunting for the perfect sweet/savory wheat berry recipe this weekend and came up so empty handed. I have enough of these ingredients to tweak your recipe a bit, Leslie’s recipe a bit, and work wtih what I’ve got – thanks! BTW always great to get to know other dietitians outside of the US – thanks for the blog “intro” to Leslie!
I made this recipe tonight and it was delicious!!! :) We’ll definitely be having it again!
I just made this but used pot barley instead, and only about 1/2 bunch of cilantro. I knew I would enjoy it but was not expecting to LOVE it! Really hearty and tasty. I intended to eat it chilled but was so yummed out by the few bites I had when it was warm, I polished off a bowl. Thanks for sharing!
Wow, this is a gorgeous looking salad. All of your recipes look delish! Thank you for sharing. I get a lot of good ideas to change it up.
Hal and Joanne are STILL awesome! Hope you had a chance to see them on Amazing Race Canada! Ps. Great recipe! :)
I am working on this now…but am using Farro and dried cranberries instead ;) will let you know how it turns out.
I love this recipe! I added chick peas too. It turned out great for a quick lunch on the go!
First recipe I’ve made from your newly-discovered blog and it was wonderful! Served this with veggie hummus wraps, and we’ll have leftovers tomorrow night with Chicken Soulvaki. Can’t wait to further explore your blog and get your cookbook. Nice job!
Made this salad for supper tonight using red wheat berries instead of the spelt and added in some cooked brown lentils for protein. It was absolutely delicious! I loved the pop of sweetness from the raisins. It was light, yet hardy. Can’t wait for tomorrow to eat up the leftovers!