Wheat Berry Salad with Middle Eastern Spices, Grilled Tomatoes & Eggplant

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This wheat berry salad always wows those new to whole grains. The smokiness of the grilled tomatoes, creaminess of the eggplant and haunting complexity of the spice paste create quite a sensation. Soft wheat berries have a toothsome starchy quality that works well in this recipe.

Wheat Berry Salad with Middle Eastern Spices, Grilled Tomatoes & Eggplant

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 13 minutes

Yield: Serves 4

Wheat Berry Salad with Middle Eastern Spices, Grilled Tomatoes & Eggplant

Ingredients

  1. 1 cup soft white wheat berries (like Bob’s Red Mill)
  2. 3 cups water
  3. Sea salt, to taste
  4. 1-1/2 pounds eggplant, cut into 1-inch slices
  5. 1-1/2 pounds firm tomatoes, cored
  6. 3 cloves garlic
  7. 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  8. 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
  9. 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  10. 2 teaspoons ground coriander
  11. 1 teaspoon sumac (or lemon zest)
  12. ¼ cup finely chopped parsley

Instructions

Combine wheat berries and water with a pinch of salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 60-90 minutes, or until tender. Drain off any excess water and transfer to a large mixing bowl.

Heat grill to medium high. Brush eggplant slices with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Grill eggplant and tomatoes, turning occasionally, for 8-10 minutes, until eggplant is tender all the way through and tomato is slightly charred. Transfer all to a cutting board, remove any skin that peels off the tomatoes and coarsely chop all. Transfer vegetables and all their juices to the mixing bowl with the wheat berries.

Pound together garlic with a pinch of salt in a mortar and pestle to a paste. Whisk in 2 tablespoons olive oil, lemon juice, cumin, coriander and sumac. Heat a small frying pan over medium-low heat and add paste to pan. Sauté for 2-3 minutes, until fragrant, then whisk in remaining 2 tablespoons oil and scrape into bowl with wheat berries and vegetables. Toss well, stir in parsley and serve.

Notes

Cook Time: 10-13 minutes

http://nourishnetwork.com/2010/08/06/wheat-berry-with-spices/

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  • Julie

    Gosh, another great recipe and I have everything in the house except a working grill. Darn.

  • http://bitesforthought.com bitesforthought

    I work in a test kitchen, and so often I get stuck using the same flavors repeatedly. Its nice to see whole grains and vegetables used with flavors I dont think of often!
    This recipes sounds tasty.

  • http://nourishnetwork.com/members/liahuber/ Lia Huber

    Julie … I feel for you! My grill is on the fritz too. I broke down and bought a “backup” kettle.

    Bitesforthought … Glad to hear! As a long-time recipe developer of dishes that got run through test kitchens (I wonder if you’ve ever made mine …?), I always tried to challenge myself to come up with some interesting twist. The habit, thankfully, has stuck here at the “test kitchen” of Nourish Network ;-).

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