Wheat Berry Feta Salad – Perfect Food for New Parents!

As a new parent why do I love grain salads?

1. They can be made in stages.  If I only have 10 minutes I can cut some veg and stick it in a bowl.  Later I can come back to it and add the grain, and then later add the vinegar & oil.

2. They last ages.  They are great when you don’t have time to make lunch.  I’ll keep mine in the fridge for around four days.

3. It makes a very large portion and is fairly cheap.  You aren’t going to your local café getting a little container for $5.

4. It’s portable.  It makes such a large portion that I can keep some and also bring some to a friends house for lunch, or gift it to new moms.

5. It’s healthy!

6. It’s flexible.  You can pretty much use what you have in your fridge.

I’ve experimented with all sorts of grains including barley, quinoa and wheat.  Here I include a recipe for a wheat salad because I think it is one of the lesser used grains.  I got my wheat from Club Organic in Montreal and it was labeled Red Hard Spring Wheat.  For some reason, the term wheat berry is used frequently on the internet so that is what I have used here.

Wheat Berry Salad with Feta


Makes a very large portion – I am going to say 10 servings

1 cup wheatberries (red hard spring wheat)
2 celery stalks
1/2 red pepper
3 spring onions
1/3 cup toasted pecans
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup feta crumbled
juice from 1 lemon
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar or to taste
1/4 cup olive oil or to taste

• Boil the wheat berries in 4 cups water for around 1 hour until tender.  The wheat will still be chewy. When it is cooked, drain and place in a large bowl.  Let it cool down to room temp before adding the other ingredients.
• Cut up your celery, red pepper and spring onions and add them to the bowl.
• Chop your pecans, crumble your feta and toss in your cranberries.
• Add the lemon, vinegar and olive oil.  Taste the salad to see if you need to add more vinegar or olive oil.