Fruited grain salad (B)

August 19, 2006 at 9:14 am (B_minus (2.5 stars), Grains, Other)

A friend made this Vegetarian Times recipe and liked it.

Fruited Grain Salad

1 cup wheat berries, rinsed
1 cup pearl barley, rinsed
1 cup millet
2 teaspoons grated orange zest
6 scallions (white and light green
parts only), chopped
½ cup chopped fresh parsley
1/3 cup chopped fresh mint
1/3 cup dried tart cherries
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
2 cups sliced fresh fruit and/or berries
(such as peaches, raspberries,
blueberries)

IN LARGE SAUCEPAN, bring 4 cups lightly salted water to a boil. Add wheat berries. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 30 minutes. Add barley, cover and simmer 20 minutes more.

Meanwhile, in dry medium skillet, toast millet over medium-high heat, shaking pan and stirring until grains darken and “pop,” about 5 minutes.

After wheat berry-barley mixture has cooked 50 minutes, add toasted millet, cover and simmer until all grains are tender and water is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat, fluff grains with fork and let cool.

In large bowl, combine grains, orange zest, scallions, parsley, mint and dried-cherries. Toss well.

In small bowl, whisk together lemon juice and oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour over grain mixture and toss Well. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving. Just before serving, top with fresh fruit and/or berries.

My friend’s notes

The millet never really got bigger from the water, as the wheat berries and barley did. But they weren’t hard, hard crunchy. Just mildly crunchy, so I guess that was OK.

The flavors with the orange zest, lemon juice, scallions and mint just really went well together. My dried bing cherries were a bit large, so I chopped them up to mix things better.

8 servings is a lot, and I have LOTS of leftovers. The 2 cups of fresh fruit I put on the side, dished the grain mixture onto the plates and then spooned the fresh fruit over top. This made it easier to store the grain mixture leftovers, I think, and I will put new fresh fruit on the leftovers when I serve that. We used peaches and blackberries last night, and I served a lot more fresh fruit with the salad than the recipe indicated. For 3 servings last night I put out about 1.5-2 cups of fruit, which is how much they suggest for like 8 servings.

I also reduced the olive oil to only 6 tbsp (from the 8 tbsp called for).

Very yummy and I will make it again.

My Notes

I only made half the recipe, and I let it cook a little longer since the millet wasn’t done after 15 minutes. It took more like 25 minutes I think. I also didn’t measure the water carefully, and might have used more than was called for.

I used significantly less olive oil (maybe only 1 Tbs?), couldn’t find sour cherries so used raisins, and was out of parsley so used more mint, and didn’t have any orange zest. I also used more lemon juice then called for. Okay, so I can’t really say I followed the recipe :). I also didn’t mix the fruit in so it would be easier to store.

I’ve been eating it for breakfast with blueberries and peaches, and sometimes with yogurt too. It’s pretty mild tasting, but the combination of grains have quite a nice texture. The millet has a dry texture that reminds me of a bulgur wheat salad, the wheat berries are kind of silky and pop in your mouth, and the barley is softer and fluffier. An interesting combo. The lemon juice and mint gave it a very light taste, and the sharper scallions made an interesting contrast to the sweet raisins and fruit.

Half the recipe made slightly more than 6 cups cooked, and the stats are not low but reasonable. 3/4 cup (with no fresh fruit) has 184 calories.

I’ve enjoyed this, but I’m not sure I’d make it again the way I did this time (i.e. not really following the recipe properly). If I make it again I’m going to try to make sure to have orange zest and cherries around.

Rating: B