Einkorn (Wheat Berry) Spring Salad Recipe

A while back, I received a box from Marx Foods filled with a bunch of little samples: grains, mushrooms, salts, etc.

I used the mushrooms in a stir fry, and have seasoned countless dishes with Hawaiian pink salt, but the rest of the samples have just been sitting on my kitchen counter.

Enough is enough, I thought! I needed to do something about this!

I took out a little plastic bag labeled einkorn and decided to come up with a recipe for it.

What is einkorn!? I had never heard of it either. It looked like wheat berries, but I was too lazy to do any research on it.

Lucky for you, there is a very thorough write-up about einkorn on Lost Past Remembered. Go and educate yourselves!

If you can't find einkorn, use brown rice.

Einkorn (Wheat Berry) Spring Salad Recipe
Serves 2-4


Ingredients
For the dressing
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons walnut oil
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
salt & pepper

For the salad
1 cup einkorn, cooked according to the package directions and cooled {I cooked mine in 2 cups of salted water by bringing everything to a boil, then turning the heat down, covering the pot and letting einkorn simmer for 20 minutes}
5 large radishes, sliced
1/2 English cucumber, halved, thinly sliced
20 Italian-style oil cured olives, pitted and roughly chopped
3 scallions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Directions
1. In a small bowl, whisk the salad dressing ingredients.
2. In a large bowl, combine the salad ingredients, drizzle with the salad dressing, and mix.

This was such a filling, colorful and healthy salad. It's perfect for lunch or dinner, and is very fitting if you participate in the Meatless Monday movement.

I feel like a broken record, but you can make so many variations from this one recipe: use brown rice instead of wheat berries, add red peppers, choose different herbs or oils, remove olives if you don't like them, etc.

I loved the crunchiness of the radishes, the saltiness of the olives and the chewiness of einkorn. If you aren't looking for a Meatless Monday recipe, top the salad with grilled chicken or steak to make it more substantial, or add grilled Portobello mushrooms to keep it completely vegetarian.

What are you making for Meatless Monday?