The Veggie Table: Apple Walnut Wheat Berry Salad
I’m an apple-a-day kind of girl: I just can’t get enough of that sweet, crunchy, sometimes tart snack that comes in a myriad of different varieties. Apples are portable, satisfying, pair wonderfully with peanut butter, and travel well (I always have one in my carry-on). But sometimes I’m looking for another way to enjoy my apples, which brought me to create this sweet, savory, chewy and crunchy wheat berry salad.
5 small apples, diced into bite size pieces, dressed in lemon juice to prevent browning
Cook 2 cups wheat berries according to package directions. Meanwhile, lay walnut pieces in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast lightly in the oven at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes.
To make the dressing whisk all ingredients together, or shake them vigorously in a closed glass jar.
Combine wheat berries, apples, walnuts, rosemary, and about ¾ of the dressing in a large bowl and mix until dressing is dispersed throughout the salad. Enjoy at room temperature.
In each forkful, you get a nutty crunch from the walnuts, chewy bite from the wheat berries, and crisp tartness from the apples. The dressing’s barely-there sweetness is just enough to keep this dish from tasting like dessert, and the wheat berries’ impressive fiber and protein content per half cup (six grams of each) make this salad especially satisfying.
Learn more about wheat berries' nutritional benefits.
Janel Ovrut Funk, MS RD LDN, loves experimenting with vegetarian and vegan cooking. Read her food blog, Eat Well with Janel , and follow her on Twitter @DietitianJanel . Catch up on her previous posts here .