It’s a bird, it’s a plane, no it’s a super food!! (Bet if you are of a certain age you thought I was going to say it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s superman – but no – it’s a super food.)
Never, and I do mean never have I cooked a grain that filled me up soooo much. I’ve prepared dishes with grains such as wheat, oats, barley, quinoa, bulgur, couscous, farro, spelt, amaranth, and rice to name a few. None of them have given me such a feeling of full as wheat berries. Maybe it’s because wheat berries pack in a lot of fiber which is a filling agent for the human body.
Here’s what the Food Network has to say about wheat berries:
“Since the wheat kernel is left intact, virtually none of the nutrients are stripped away. A cup of cooked wheat berries has about 300 calories and is packed with fiber, protein and iron. Tasty sprouts are loaded with vitamin E, a cell-protecting antioxidant, and magnesium, which is good for healthy bones and muscles.”
So back to the beginning of the post, what is the recipe? It’s a salad, it’s a side dish, it’s a vegetarian meal, and yes, it’s a super food!!
Cooked wheat berries ready to be mixed with other ingredients.
Butternut squash added to wheat berries. Looking yummy already.
Mix it all together and what have you got? A tasty bowl of grain goodness with flavors intensified by the addition of walnuts, dates, and blue cheese!
Serve warm or cold.
Yields 4
Save RecipeIngredients
- ¾ cup wheat berries, rinsed
- 1 garlic clove, whole, skin removed
- 4 cups butternut squash, chopped small
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 6 medjool dates, pitted and chopped
- 1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
- Juice from 1/2 lemon
- 3 1/2 ounces blue cheese, crumbled
- 1/4 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat oven to 375 F degrees. Line baking pan with non-stick foil.
- In a medium pot of salted water add the wheat berries and whole garlic clove. Cook on medium-high heat and bring to the boil. Once water reaches a boil, cover and reduce temp to low to simmer for 1 hour.
- When grains are soft removed from heat, drain and mash up the garlic with the grains.
- While the wheat berries are cooking, place the butternut squash on a baking tray lined with non-stick foil and season with a pinch of sea salt and black pepper, drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. And sprinkle with cinnamon. Toss everything to combine. Roast in hot oven for 30 to 35 minutes, until squash is golden and tender.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the dates and stir them for 1 to 2 minutes, until they are caramelized and sticky. The skin will be slightly crispy. Remove from heat and sprinkle with a big pinch of sea salt.
- Combine the grains with the butternut squash, and parsley. Drizzle some olive oil, and a squeeze of lemon juice over the mixture, and season well with sea salt and black pepper.
- To serve, scatter the dates, blue cheese, and walnuts over the wheat berries and butternut squash mixture. (I combined all the ingredients together because I wanted the flavors to incorporate well with each other.)
Notes
The calories may seem high for this recipe but it is calculated for 4 servings. If you are using this dish as a side salad or side grain dish it can easily serve 6-8 which would lower the calories considerably. But also note the high nutrient content this recipe provides in the low sugar/high fiber content. And the taste is out of this world!
With all the grains I’ve cooked over the years, I should have invested in Bob’s Red Mill stock (although it is an employee-owned company). This is not a paid commercial for Bob’s, I just have a general admiration for their products.
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