Well, I’ve finally crossed over into the world of wheat berries. You know, I get to experience a lot of new foods due to my living abroad, but at the same time I miss out on some new and upcoming things here in the US. Wheat berries have been all over food blogs the past few months and I have yet to find them where we live in Brazil. So during this visit I picked some up to cook and to take back with me so I can experiment some more.
I tried them for the first time a couple weeks ago. I was in Whole Foods and needed a quick, to-go dinner so I stopped by their deli and decided to get a bit of their wheat berry salad made with curry. The consensus – love them! Not that I had any doubts. I’m a huge fan of grains and grain-based salads.
Because wheat berries are the whole wheat kernel without the hull they provide the nutritional benefit of the bran, germ and endosperm, much of which is missing from the processed variety. Wheat berries are a very good source of fiber and manganese, and a good source of magnesium. The presence of the germ also gives you a boost of B vitamins and vitamin E.
Some other interesting research that has arisen the past few years is that whole grains may hold as much antioxidant power through phytochemicals as fruits and veggies. Phenolics are a group of antioxidants present in whole grains in their bound form, unlike those in fruits and veggies which are free. What may have been overlooked in the past is that the bound phenolics in whole grains are released during digestions so we still benefit from them.
It took me a while to decide what to make with my wheat berries. There is no shortage of recipes on the web and I loved the curry flavor in the salad I had from Whole Foods. What I didn’t like was the added fruit. I’m not a big fan of golden raisins in grain salads. I wanted something that was savory all the way. So using some things from the garden this is what I came up with.
Savory Curry Wheat Berry Salad 
1 cup wheat berries
3 ½ cups water
1 cup grape tomatoes, chopped
1 spring onion, sliced
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp curry powder
Salt and pepper to taste
3 ½ cups water
1 cup grape tomatoes, chopped
1 spring onion, sliced
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp curry powder
Salt and pepper to taste
Place wheat berries in a large sauce pan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered for 45 min to one hour. Drain and rinse with cool water.
In a bowl whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, curry powder, salt and pepper. Set aside.
In a serving bowl toss together wheat berries, tomatoes, onion and parsley. Pour dressing over salad, toss to coat and serve. Makes about six servings.
More on the health benefits of whole grains and references for this post – WHFoods: Whole Wheat
I did a wheat berry salad for a rehearsal dinner I catered & it was a hugh hit. I had totally forgotten it until now…note to self buy wheat berries
Hi, it’s good to be FF. and the wheat berry salad is great! healthy, tasty…thanks, s
I don’t think I’ve tried wheat berries yet. They sound good. Look kind of like Israeli couscous.
it’s such a healthy salad and for me it is completely Indian except for that EVOO…..we use other oils traditionally such as mustard, sesame,peanut , coconut etc….all of them available in extra virgin form ……
we even sprout the wheat grains and use that without cooking in our salads….
nice post n great information.
That recipe looks wonderful, Lori! We’ve only tried wheat berries once and I sure loved them … I’m not sure why we haven’t gotten them again, in fact.
I’ve never tried wheat berries! But this salad sure looks so bright and delicious! It almost looks like couscous.
YUM! I’ll be making this soon. My husband has a thing for wheat berries. They’re hard to find here too. I can find them in the bulk section of my local health food grocery, but they’re pricey.
Oh, and I bet a delicious variation on this would be to substitute basil for the parsley, omit the curry, and add in some feta cheese. So many possibilities!
I need to try wheat berries too – this look like a wonderful salad!
The first time I tried wheat berries, I loved them (it was in a wrap with sweet potato puree – another fave). But I have never actually made them myself! I’ve been trying to expand my grain repertoire beyond rice and maize, and just recently I made a dish with barley. I’m definitely going to try this out!
And thank you for the great nutritional info; the simple fact is that white rice, which is what I usually make, has been polished and therefore stripped of most of its nutrition value. Are there grains in Brazil that we don’t have here in the US?
I have yet to try wheat berries – I guess we’re also a bit behind the US in that particular trend. I’ll have to keep an eye out though, because I’m also a big fan of grain salads & daresay I would take to wheat berries in a big way.
kat – Sounds wonderful! You definitely need to get some more. 🙂
s.stockwell – Thanks for stopping by with your comment.
Alison – They are good. Definitely give them a try.
sangeeta – I found a vegetarian restaurant that makes a lot of sprouted grain salads. I really enjoy them and I would love to experiment with some of the oils mentioned.
lesley – Thanks! The best part is that it’s so simple. 🙂
Reeni – Give them a try. I would love to see the creative ways you could use them.
cathy – Great idea. I saw another recipe that did have feta with it, and dried cranberries, I think. It looked good. It is actually much cheaper to buy them at bulk near where my parents live. However I did buy a bag of Bob’s Red Mill to take back with me and it was just under $3. Not too bad at all.
5 Star – Thanks! I’ll look for them in a blog post soon. Ha, ha! I’m sure your recipe would be fantastic.
Tangled Noodle – Sweet potato puree? Yum! I am new to experimenting with grains too, but so far each I have tried I’ve loved!
I was thinking about my grain situation where we are in Brazil. So far I have found some sprouted wheat and now that I think about it, it is probably the same as wheat berries. So far I haven’t come across anything too different. White rice is a staple there from long grain to Japanese style and Arborio. Quinoa is starting to show up, but is organic and very expensive. I’m sure some different things exist out there, I just haven’t come across them. It is more the root veggies and other produce that is interesting here to me. 🙂
Daily Spud – Oh, you’ll love it for sure!
My husband and I just fell in love with wheat berries. They are so tastey and such body.
Lori – Thanks for your comment. I just love the texture of them too.