I love to cook wheatberries ahead, keep them in the fridge and turn them into weekday salads with roasted vegetables and peppy dressings. The salads are delicious at room temperature or slightly warmed.
While you could make this easy salad with any kind of wheatberry, I particularly like Einkorn wheatberries, not only because they cook quickly (and don't need to be soaked), but also because they have a softer, less bouncy texture than hard wheatberries – and a lovely earthy flavor, too. (The Jovial Einkorn wheatberries are available at Stop 'n' Shop.)
When I devised this salad, I had been craving roasted cabbage (charred around the edges) and slightly Asian flavors, but you could also use this recipe as a template. Change up the roasted vegetables, the type of nuts (just don’t skimp on the amount – you want a lot of crunch), and the dressing. Use lime instead of lemon. Use fresh ginger instead of crystallized ginger (but add a bit more maple syrup). Add garlic or crispy shallots. Use any fresh herb. (If you have a convection oven, you could also double the amount of charred cabbage, which is so delicious. In my older oven, I can only cook one sheet pan at a time or the vegetables will get soggy, not crisp.)
To cook the wheatberries, use my simple method for cooking grains “pasta-style.”
Serves 6 to 8 as a side dish (easily doubled for a crowd)
- 4 cups cooked wheatberries (preferably Einkorn)
- 4 cups chopped (1-inch pieces) green cabbage
- 3 tablespoons grapeseed or other neutral oil
- 1 tablespoon low-sodium tamari or soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice, divided
- 1 ½ teaspoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons minced crystallized ginger
- ½ cup sliced scallions
- ½ cup toasted slivered almonds
- Kosher salt
- 3 to 4 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1. Heat the oven to 425º. Cover a large (13” x 18”) rimmed baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
2. Put the chopped cabbage in a medium mixing bowl. In a separate vessel (I like to use a 1-cup Pyrex liquid measure), combine the grapeseed (or other neutral) oil, the soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice, and the maple syrup. Whisk well. Add 1 tablespoon of the liquid mixture to the bowl of cabbage and toss well. (Reserve the remaining mixture for your dressing.) Scrape the cabbage out of the bowl onto the baking sheet and spread into one layer.
3. Roast the cabbage, stirring with a spatula once or twice, until the edges are nicely charred in many of the pieces, about 20 to 22 minutes.
4. To the reserved liquid mixture, add the remaining tablespoon of lemon juice, the lemon zest, and the crystallized ginger. Whisk well.
5. If you have been holding your wheatberries in the fridge, transfer them to a microwave-safe shallow bowl and heat for 1 to 2 minutes so that the wheatberries are either at room temperature or slightly warm – not cold. Transfer the wheatberries to the bowl that had the cabbage.
6. To the bowl of wheatberries, add the cooked cabbage, most of the scallions, most of the toasted almonds, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and 3 to 4 tablespoons of the dressing. Toss well and taste. Add more dressing or salt if you like. Stir. Add most of the cilantro and toss again.
7. Serve in a shallow serving dish (or dishes), topped with the remaining scallions, toasted almonds, and cilantro.
