Wheat Berry and Arugula Salad

Yum! Just did this one tonight. One of my favorites for sure! The somewhat crunchy texture of the wheat berries, mixed with the sweet, yet spicy dressing is SO yummo! The perfect meal in one on a summer evening.

Don't forget the healthy benefit of the wheat berries, they are an excellant souce of Dietary Fiber! Something that is really hard to get enough of every day. And the Garbanzo beans are a little gem themselves. They provide good fats, high fiber, protein, and even calcium!! (I have added them to chocolate chip cookies before! Who knew?)

Dressing:

1 C fresh orange juice (about 2 oranges)

1/4 C chopped fresh cilantro

2 T fresh lime juice

2 T water

1 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 tsp. honey

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp paprika

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Bring OJ to boil in small saucepan - medium heat. Simmer until reduced to about 1/3 cup. (about 12 minutes) Refrigerate until cool. Whisk in cilantro, lime juice, water, oil, honey, garlic, salt, cumin, paprika, and cayenne. Set aside.

Salad:

1 C wheat berries (I used white whole wheat berries)

Salt

1 Can chickpeas (garbanzo beans)

1/2 jarred roasted red peppers (in water) drained and patted dry, and chopped

2 oz feta cheese crumbled

Pepper

8 oz baby arugula (I didn't have this and just used baby spinach)

I had a few extra ing. on hand and wanted to use them, so I added Cranberry's and Avocado

Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil. Add wheat berries with 1/2 tsp salt. Partially cover and cook stirring often, until tender but still chewy (about 1 hour). Drain and rinse. Mix chickpeas, red peppers, feta, cranberries, avacado, and wheat berries, and half the dressing in a bowl. Season with Salt and Pepper. In remaining bowl toss arugula with remaining dressing. Place 1 C of berry mixture on top of a each plate of lettuce and enjoy!

Me score: 5 stars

Hubby's score: 3 stars (bummer, should have used arugula)

I kept the lettuce out and just gave the berry mixture to the three year old:

He ate the whole thing!

recipe from: Light and Healthy magazine 2010

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