Wheat berries have a little pop to them and then they are chewy so they are fun to eat and they are nutty in flavor. They go well with sweets too (see my last recipe). They will take on the flavor of whatever you are cooking and I imagine they're great for stews. You can cook them shorter or longer depending on how al dente you'd like them - from 20 minutes to an hour or more. I like them to have a good amount of chew left to them so I cook them 40 minutes. So taste them as you go to see how well done you'd like them.
Here we're marrying them with a bunch of vegetables and boiled chicken (leftover from a broth I made) but you can buy any chicken and cook it to your pleasure and skin and bone them prior to use.
I hope you enjoy my new creation. Your body will!
Wheat Berry, Chicken, Vegetable Salad
1 1/2 cup Wheat Berries
5 cups water
4 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Large Carrotts
2 Large Celery Stalks
1 Medium Onion
2 Bell peppers in different colors
1 Cup Chopped Button Porcini Mushrooms
3/4 Lb Cooked Chicken (your choice what kind)
3/4 Large Lemon
1 tsp Sea Salt or Kosher Salt
1 tsp dried herbs (mix and match or use a bottled mix like Italian herbs or Mrs Dash - I used Trader Joe's 21 herb mix)
1 tsp garlic powder
Ground Pepper to taste
2 tomatoes
Fresh basil and fresh parsley to taste - I used about 1/4 cup parsley and 1/2 cup basil
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Put the wheat berries in a medium sauce pot and add water. Bring to a boil and then drop to a medium simmer, cover and let cook as we discussed above (20-60+ minutes).
Meanwhile get to chopping up the vegetables. Do the carrotts and celery first. Put the 4 Tbsp in a medium sauté pan and bring up to high heat and drop in the carrotts and celery and don't stir. They'll get a bit browned on one side, which brings out their natural sweetness. Let them saute like that for 10 minutes. Then add the onions and bell peppers. Drop heat slightly so it's in between a medium and low heat. Cook stirring once every 5 minutes for 25 minutes. They'll get mostly soft but not all the way - some crunch left. (It's perfectly fine to make your vegetables al dente if you prefer and that keeps in more of the vitamins too but for this I liked a softer consistency).
When wheat berries are done drain them and put them in a very large bowl. Add the vegetables. You'll note that the salad needs no more oil. Drizzle 1/2 lemon juice over it. Drizzle 1/4 lemon juice over the chopped (bite size) chicken. Sprinkle the salt, garlic powder and seasonings over the salad. Add as much ground pepper as you like and toss the salad very well. Add the chicken in and stir only long enough to combine (you don't want the chicken falling apart) and finally top with chopped tomatoes and herbs and stir them in gently when salad has come to room temp.
Serve at room temp - 6 to 8 servings. If you put it in the fridge and then serve it up cold or just later, warm you'll need to add a little more lemon juice.
Enjoy!
