Pear Walnut Wheat Berry Salad Food

PEAR WALNUT WHEAT BERRY SALAD

Steps:

• Bring water and wheat berries to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the wheat berries are tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Drain any excess water and cool.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Spread walnuts onto a baking sheet.
• Bake walnuts in the preheated oven until toasted and fragrant, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and cool.
• Whisk canola oil, raspberry wine vinegar, raspberry preserves, mustard, oregano, and black pepper together in a bowl until vinaigrette is smooth. Measure 1/2 cup vinaigrette and store remaining vinaigrette in an airtight container in the refrigerator for another use.
• Combine wheat berries, walnuts, pear, Gorgonzola cheese, cranberries, and green onions in a large bowl. Drizzle 1/2 cup vinaigrette over wheat berries mixture; toss to coat. Refrigerate for flavors to blend, about 30 minutes.

BABY GREENS, PEAR, WALNUT, AND BLUE CHEESE SALAD

Steps:

• Whisk first 4 ingredients in small bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in oil. Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper.
• Toss greens in large bowl with enough dressing to coat. Divide greens among 6 plates. Top with pear slices, dividing equally. Sprinkle with cheese and walnuts. Drizzle lightly with remaining dressing and serve.

PEARS WITH CARAMELIZED ONIONS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place walnuts on a baking sheet, and toast in the oven 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool.
• In a food processor, process 1/2 cup of the walnuts 10 seconds, until finely chopped. Remove to a bowl, and set aside. Place the remaining walnuts, basil leaves, Parmesan cheese and 2 tablespoons olive oil in the food processor. Process 15 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl, and process 15 seconds more. Add 4 tablespoons olive oil, red wine vinegar and 1 tablespoon raspberry vinegar, and process 15 seconds. Transfer to a bowl, season to taste with salt and pepper, and set aside.
• In a 5-quart saucepan, bring to a boil 2 quarts water seasoned with 2 teaspoons salt. Add wheat berries and simmer 1 hour, until they are cooked but still quite crunchy. Drain, and transfer to a large bowl. Add the currants, 2 tablespoons olive oil and 2 tablespoons raspberry vinegar; stir to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Let cool 30 minutes, then stir in the reserved chopped walnuts. Set aside.
• In a large nonstick saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add onions, and season lightly with salt and pepper. Cook 30 to 40 minutes, until golden and caramelized, stirring occasionally to prevent onions from sticking to the pan. Add 1/2 cup water to the caramelized onions, bring to a boil and then transfer onions and liquid to a large bowl.
• While the onions are cooking, combine lemon juice with 4 cups cold water in a medium bowl. Core and quarter the pears. Slice each quarter lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices, and place in the lemon water. Set aside until onions are done.
• Drain pears in a colander, rinse under cold water and shake dry. Add pears to the onions, and stir gently to combine. Season to taste with salt. Cover with plastic wrap, and set aside for 10 minutes.
• To assemble, place equal amounts of the wheat berry mixture in a ring shape on the outer edges of 4 plates. Place equal amounts of arugula inside each ring of wheat berries. Dress arugula and wheat berries with 2 tablespoons dressing. Place equal amounts of the pear-onion mixture on the arugula, then sprinkle pears and onions with 1 more tablespoon of dressing. Serve immediately.

WHEAT BERRY SALAD

Steps:

• Place wheat berries in a large saucepan; add water to cover by 2 in. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, about 1 hour or until tender. Drain; transfer to a large bowl. Cool completely., Add celery, cherries, walnuts, parsley and green onion to wheat berries. In a small bowl, whisk oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper until blended; add to salad and toss to coat. If desired, serve over greens.

BEET, WALNUT, WHEAT BERRY SALAD WITH CILANTRO LIME VINAIGRETTE

Steps:

• Cook the wheat berries in salted water until softened and chewy. You can either soak overnight to reduce cooking time; bring to a boil, remove from heat and then let soak a few hours in advance; or bring to a boil and simmer until cooked through. It is important to salt the water when cooking the grains so they absorb the salt and have flavor--but don't over salt!
• Once the wheat berries are cooked to your desired consistency, drain them and drizzle with the rice wine vinegar (they absorb more flavor now than when they cool).
• Heat oven to 400°F While the wheat berries are cooking, cut the tops and bottoms off the beets, peel, and cube into 1/2" pieces. In a bowl, toss cubed beets with the 2 tbsp olive oil and salt to taste. Spread evenly on a cooking sheet (preferably lined w/parchment paper for no stick cooking and easy clean-up). Cook beets until they are beginning to caramelize (approximately 30 - 45 minutes). Remove from oven and allow to cool a bit.
• In a large bowl, add cooked wheat berries, drained beans (or other legume), roasted beets, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, scallions, cilantro, lime zest and juice, and olive oil. Stir well. Taste. Season with more salt, acid (either more citrus juice or vinegar), or oil to bring the flavors in to balance.