Usually I love pasta salads. Obviously, they need to have a good dressing, but making one at home isn’t hard at all. I try to choose a good whole grain pasta and lots of good veggies and fresh herbs, and then it suddenly dawned on me. I have a cupboard full of wheat berries. Probably about 30lbs I would guess. Who can pass up 20lbs for $10 of local wheat? Obviously not me.
Anyways, I figured I should try them some other way other than grinding them for bread so I decided to cook them and use them in a salad. They’re super chewy and good. And talk about filling. This salad isn’t very big but it will easily serve 2 for a meal or 4 as a side. And the wheat berries are completely unrefined, and super good for you 
You don’t have to worry about what ingredients are in your pasta.
- 1 C cooked and cooled wheat berries
- 1 large carrot
- 1 large stalk of celery
- 1/4 C finely chopped sweet onion
- 1/4 C chopped fresh parsley
Dressing:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 thyme
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
Soak wheat berries overnight and then cook in fresh water(at least 4 times the amount of berries) in a pot for 1-1 1/2 hours, till chewy but tender. Cool before adding to the salad. Chop veggies in small bite sized pieces and mix all together in a medium sized bowl. Mix together dressing and pour over the salad. Mix together and store in the fridge till ready to serve or at least 1 hour to let the flavors come together. Serves 2, or 4 as a side and lasts for a few days in the fridge. Feel free to try some different veggies in here too. I think cherry tomatoes would taste so good mixed in
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{ 33 comments… read them below or add one }
That looks amazing!
Thank you!
Oh my goodness…this looks amazing!
I have wheat berries, and I had NO clue what to do with them!! I think I know now
Thank you! I hope you like it if you try it. Add any kind of veggies. My mind is still thinking of different combinations that would have been more exciting than what I chose for this one haha
I’ve never even heard of wheat berries before! I’m going to have to try and track some down
Neither had I till I looked into grinding my own flour. They’re really yummy! You should be able to find some at a local health food store, if you can’t find them anywhere else.
That looks great! Very summery!
Thank you! I might be jumping the gun a little, but all I’ve been craving are summery foods!
I love a good pasta salad! This looks delicious. I love how you added thyme – I’ve been obsesssed wth thyme lately! I put it in everything!
Thank you! I’ve been obsessed with thyme too. It’s so good. I have a soup/pasta sauce recipe that uses thyme and it’s so good! I’ll have to post it soon, I’ve been craving it
Wow. I found your blog on Foodblogroll.com. I love it and can’twait to spend some time picking out great recipes.
Welcome! Thanks for stopping by, I hope you find some recipes that interest you
This dish looks delish, I love wheatberries they are like little balls the texture is amazing.
Thanks Kate! They are amazing. I love the chew
Ooh looks refreshing and hearty at the same time. Do you usually grind them for flour? I’ve never done that – do you have to dehydrate first or anything?
Thanks Michelle!
I do grind them into flour. You can sprout the wheat before grinding it and that’s the only time you would need to dehydrate them. Otherwise they’re ready to throw in the grinder straight from storage. I haven’t tried sprouting them before grinding them for flour, but I’m definitely going to try it soon because I’m very curious about how that will change the taste and texture of bread made from the flour. Sprouting improves the digestibility of the grain, doesn’t it?
wheat berries is something that I have to try soon,this looks really good.I followed you from the foodie blog roll and I’d love to guide Foodista readers to your site. I hope you could add this wheat berry widget at the end of this post so we could add you in our list of food bloggers who blogged about recipes for wheat berries,Thanks!
Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll look into that tomorrow when I have more time
yum, that looks delicious. wheat berries are great for springtime salads
Thanks Rachel! I’m in such a spring mood right now
My pantry is overflowing with grains as well. I always have to stock up when there is a deal. Included in the mix are plenty of wheat berries so I’m always looking for great recipes. This sounds delicious!
Yes, it’s great to stock up when they’re a good deal, especially since whole(not ground) grain don’t lose nutrition over time, as far as I know.
Thank you, Lori!
Your photos are awesome. I love wheat berries!
Thank you so much! This was the first time I’ve tried them and I’m loving them too
Can’t wait to try more recipes.
That salad looks amazing! Thank you for reminding me that I haven’t eaten wheatberries in a while…
Where did you get such a good buy on wheat berries, that is great.
They were grown locally and I bought them straight from the farmer. That must be why they were such a good deal.
That looks so tasty!
I bought wheat berries from Whole Foods, just because I was curious what they were like. It’s been quite a while now, but I still haven’t found a use for them.
But I think I’ll make this tomorrow for dinner… and it’ll go perfectly with this wonderful weather we’re expecting!
Looks interesting – I love the colors.
This looks so amazing! Although I cook quinoa almost daily, strangely I’ve never tried wheat berries! I can’t wait to give this a try – I need a little variety! The dressing looks like it would be good on anything. Thanks for the great recipe!
I just made my first wheatberry salad and it’s amazing! I chopped up black olives, cherry toms and mozzarella balls, tossed them in a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar then tossed it all with the cooked wheatberries! Then I added some chopped parsley and a squeeze of lemon juice and voila! Easy and yummy!
Yummy! That sounds really good. I love dressing with balsamic vinegar, I will have to try that next! And the cherry tomatoes and mozzarella sound delicious
Just came across this recipe and am going to try it today. I, too, never found a use for the wheat berries in my pantry. I may have been a little overzealous and I cooked them all. Do you know if you can freeze cooked wheat berries for later use?
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