Rooting for this wheat berry salad with beets and feta
Beets are sometimes considered Winter vegetables but they are readily available in the spring and they go well with cool salads. And that's just the way I like them at this time of year.
For those of us who grew up eating canned pickled beets as part of institutionalized lunches at school, it was probably hard to imagine the complex bittersweet and earthy taste of a fresh beet. The first time I tasted a fresh beet, I was shocked. It wasn't a mushy tart thing. It just tasted fresh and firm and full of flavor.
Don't forget that you can eat all parts of the beet...for this recipe, you're just using the roots. Save the dark green leaves for a dish sautéed with garlic and olive oil or for a simple soup. Beets are about $1.75 a pound, but one bunch will give you a couple of meals for 4 people so it's not a bad deal.
Wheat Berry Salad with Beets and Feta
Serves 4
- 5-6 small beets
- 1 cup of wheat berries, soaked overnight
- 1 stalk of celery, chopped
- 1/3 cup offered onion, chopped fine
- 1/3 cup of dill, chopped
- 1/3 cup of parsley, chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup of crumbled feta cheese
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 4 tablespoons of white balsamic vinegar
- pinch of salt
- Preheat oven to 400º F
- Cut the stems and the tips off of the beets and place them in a single layer in a casserole dish.
- Cover with foil and bake for half an hour and then check for doneness with the tip of a sharp knife. You are looking for them to be tender, but not mushy.
- When they are ready, cut them into bite-sized pieces.
- While the beets are cooking, put the wheat berries into 1 1/2 cups of water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover and bring the heat down to medium and leave it there for 40 minutes.
- Take the pan off the heat and let the wheat berries steam for 15 minutes before pouring off the excess liquid.
- Whisk the oil, the vinegar and the salt together to make the dressing. Add more vinegar, if you like.
- Put into a serving bowl.
- Add the beets, the onions, the celery and the herbs and toss it all with the dressing.
- Chill for up to three hours.
- Toss in the feta and serve.
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