You gotta love the weather on the East Coast. First day of summer and boom! We get hit with a heat wave. It’s been extremely humid and close to 100 degrees for 3 days now and I can’t wait for it to be over already. Not sure how many bad hair days I can handle!!
I do, however love the fact that, in this heat, all I think of eating is light, refreshing food. Fresh fruit, salads… I love it. It makes me feel somewhat “cleansed”.
It also sparks my imagination to come up with new, fun combinations. In my house, it’s a new salad almost every day during the summer.
So here’s one of my favorites: heirloom tomato and avocado wheat berry salad. Super simple and delicious, refreshing and filling.
Here’s a suggestion though. Because the wheat berries take a little time to cook, make extra and store them in the fridge. Use them as a side dish for dinner… or to make more salad!
Have a great weekend,
Vicky
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 60-90 minutes
Ingredients (serves 6-8):
- 1 cup of raw wheat berries (we use Bob’s Red Mill)
- 4 cups water
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 large avocado, diced (*Note: to keep the avocados from turning black, dice them right before adding to the salad, or squeeze some lemon juice on them if preparing in advance)
- 1 lb mini Heirloom tomatoes, sliced in half
- 1 cup chopped parsley
- “3 mustards” salad dressing
- Bring 4 cups water to a boil in a soup pot. Add salt and wheat berries, reduce heat to medium, cover and cook until wheat is tender, slightly “al dente”, about 60-90 minutes
- In the mean time, prepare “3 mustards” salad dressing and refrigerate until ready to use
- In a large bowl, combine cooked wheat berries, diced avocado, sliced tomatoes and chopped parsley
- Add salad dressing to taste and carefully toss all the ingredients together.
- Enjoy! From May I have that recipe
That looks delish – and so colorful.
Thanks! We love using different color tomatoes. Makes a great, colorful summer salad!
Yum! I have a similar salad recipe that I make in summer but uses lentils instead of wheat berries.
Yes! We’ve made this one with lentils too. So good! We love Beluga lentils because they’re smaller and stay firm Have you tried them?
I could not agree with you more! The New England weather is freaky. A heatwave and then a stormy shower. My son was so upset. He was just getting ready to jump into the pool when the heavens opened up. We could still see the sun peeking through and coloring the tips of tall pine trees. “Only I can have that bad luck, nothing goes as I plan it”. Poor guy. It’s gorgeous today though.
Love the salad – so refreshing! We are finally inaugurating our BBQ with a tandoori recipe. Hopefully the beautiful days lasts.
Hope so too!! Although I have a feeling this is going to be a HOT summer!!
Glad you liked the recipe. Enjoy the BBQ!
LOVE this salad! Love the crunchy combination of the wheat berries with the tangy tomamtoes and rich avocado!