Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Spinach, Strawberry and Feta Wheatberry Salad


Just about every restaurant that serves lunch-time salad and sandwich fare has a variety of the spinach, strawberry and feta salad on the menu. I usually find myself torn between this salad and the usual asian chicken salad. Sometimes it's served with grilled chicken, toasted almonds, or red onion slices. The optional add-ons are endless!
In order to make this a heartier, dinner salad, I decided to introduce a grain. I looked through the pantry and passed on quinoa, barley and rice, and settled on wheatberries, one of my new favorites! I love the texture of these, there's a bit of chewiness and they just taste healthy, but not in the alfalfa-wheat grass shot way.
I made a simple, light dressing for this salad, and served it at room temperature, next time I might add some sliced almonds for crunch, and some sliced chicken breasts or tempeh for protein.

Spinach, Strawberry and Feta Wheatberry Salad

1/2 cup wheatberries
1/2 tsp. salt
4 cups baby spinach leaves, packed
10 strawberries, stemmed and sliced
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

honey-balsamic dressing:
1 shallot, minced
1 tsp. tarragon, minced
1 tbsp. honey
1/4 c. aged balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp. EVOO
Salt and pepper

Add wheatberries to a bowl with 4 cups of water, cover and soak overnight.
Drain wheatberries, add to a soup pot with 1.5 cups of water and salt, bring to a boil, turn to low and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour.
Taste to determine if wheatberry is cooked enough, drain any excess water and turn heat off.
Add spinach, toss and wilt.
Whisk together dressing ingredients in a serving bowl, taste and adjust.
Drain wheatberries and spinach, add to dressing and toss.
Cool to room temperature, add stawberries and feta, toss and serve.

6 comments:

Kelly said...

I have almost all of these ingredients on hand! I may have to whip this up tomorrow night though I might change things up a bit (i.e with a citrus-y vinaigrette since I have the confit on hand) and perhaps with a little arugula for a peppery bite

Joanne said...

This looks like a salad I would have a hard time saying no to! I love wheatberries!

VegeCooking Club said...

Very nice...where do you get your wheatberries from?

Elina said...

This salad looks so summary. I can't wait for strawberry season!! :)

Barbara said...

How many servings does this make?

Ashlee said...

I got about 2 side dish servings.