Wheatberry Salad - Take 2

Since coming home with a surplus of tomatoes and eggplant from the farmers market this weekend, I had been dreaming up a warm wheatberry salad with the roasted vegetables.  In my head it tasted fantastic!  I had even typed up the recipe and was prepared to feature it on the blog last night.  Unfortunately, my hour plus of prep work resulted in a dish that I was just simply not excited about, and certainly nothing I was going to share with you.

Something about the roasted tomatoes just didn't agree with my palate.  I put the leftovers in the refrigerator, hoping that maybe it was just my "sore throat-headache-body aches-misery-wish I could spend all day on the couch-disease" that was altering my palate.


Tonight when I took the salad out, I decided to try a different approach.  I placed a hearty serving of the COLD wheatberry salad over a bed of spinach and topped it with sliced avocado.  Boy was I glad I hadn't tossed the leftovers in the garbage.  It was super tasty and full of great flavors!  So, without further ado, I will now share the modified recipe with you.

WHEATBERRY SALAD

¾ cups wheatberries

3 cups water

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp Bohemian seasoning

2 tbsp EVOO

½ cup feta cheese

4 cloves garlic

4 tomatoes, diced into 8 chunks

8 miniature eggplants, halved

3 cups fresh spinach

Avocado

Sea salt 

1. Boil wheatberries in water uncovered for 45 minutes

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place the eggplant on a oiled foil lined baking sheet and sprinkle generously with salt.  Wrap 4 cloves of garlic rubbed in EVOO in foil and place on the same tray. Place the baking sheet in the oven and roast for 30 minutes.  After the eggplant has been roasting for 10 minutes, add the tomato pieces to the same tray.

3. In a bowl, combine the balsamic vinegar, seasoning mix, EVOO, and feta cheese.  Mix well and reserve.

4. Remove the vegetables from the oven.  Allow the eggplant to cool slightly and then use a spoon and scoop out the flesh of the eggplant and place in the bowl with the balsamic dressing.  Discard the skins.  Add the roasted garlic to the eggplant-dressing mix.  Mix well until the eggplant and garlic is smooth.

5. Remove the wheatberries from the heat and drain in a colander.

                      6. Combine the wheatberries, dressing/eggplant mix, and tomatoes.  Mix thoroughly.  

7. Refrigerate overnight.

8. Serve over a bed of spinach with sliced avocado.

**I used feta cheese as a protein source since I had it on hand, but this would also be really tasty and vegan by using chickpeas instead of cheese**

Note that this picture was taken with the warm salad with spinach mixed in.  The above directions are for the cold salad, but I devoured it too fast for capturing on film.