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Wheatberry & Roasted Vegetable Salad

This salad is so fresh and flavorful, you will not want to share it with anyone! It's packed full of vegetables and fresh coriander and has a lovely crunch from the roasted sunflower seeds.

Recently, there was an offer on instant rice and products like that. My husband grabbed quite a few of the packets for our oldest. He has recently moved out and we're always worried he will go hungry. And while he was at it, he also bought some things for us. Now, I'm not a fan of instant rice so he knew better than to get that. But what he did get was instant wheatberries! I used to eat them quite a lot but had completely forgotten about them. They're sold by a company called Ebly here but my husband bought them from another company. The ones he bought had the advantage that I just had to add a little bit of water and basically heat them up.

That made me think they would be an excellent salad base. Or a great base for a vegetable bowl! Experimenting with ingredients is one of my absolute favorite things to do so the next step was to figure out what to include in the salad. I first wanted to go a completely different route. But then I checked what was in the fridge and knew that I definitely wanted to include lots of vegetables as well. My favorite ones again, of course. I'm talking about bell peppers, eggplant and zucchini - the three best!

And since I'm always up for different texture, there was no doubt in my mind that I had to include seeds or nuts in the salad. Sunflower seeds are so lovely over any kind of salad, especially when roasted. Sometimes I roast them in a little bit of oil with chili flakes and salt - makes a great snack! But for this recipe, I just dry roasted them in a pan for a little bit. They get so fragrant and flavorful like that!

The dressing (what a pop of color!) is a blend of lots of fresh coriander, tahini, lime juice, water, salt and garlic powder. I love using garlic powder because you have the flavor but not the bad breath afterwards. Fresh coriander is something I try to always have in the fridge. It's one of my absolute favorite herbs in the whole world. And it tastes great on anything! In rice, soup or salad, in a dressing, on top of a dish... I love it! I've heard that apparently to some people, coriander tastes like soap. Are you one of those people? I'm so glad it tastes wonderful to me!

When I asked my husband to try the salad after it was done, he was head over heels about it! He loved it so much, he asked me to make it again for a bigger gathering a couple of days later. And the people there loved it as well! It really is such a delicious mixture, so fresh and full of flavor. You will want to eat the whole bowl instead of sharing it.

Will you make this delicious salad soon? Or how about my Lentil & Avocado Salad?

Cooking Method ,
Courses
Difficulty Beginner
Time
Prep Time: 15 min Cook Time: 1 hour Total Time: 1 hr 15 mins
Servings 2
Ingredients
  • 1 large eggplant
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • 1 medium zucchini
  • 1.5 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 pound wheatberries (220g Sonnenweizen)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 1/8 cup sunflower seeds
  • Dressing
  • 1 bunch of fresh coriander
  • 2 tablespoons tahini
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1.5 tablespoon lime juice
  • 1/4 cup water
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C (356°F). Cover baking tray with parchment paper. 

  2. Cut the ends of the eggplant and dice. Seed the bell pepper and chop into pieces. Cut the ends of the zucchini and dice. Mix with olive oil, garlic powder and salt. Add to a baking tray and roast at 180°C for one hour. 

  3. In the meantime, cook the wheatberries according to the package instructions. I used instant ones and it resulted in 1.5 cups of cooked wheatberries. Mix them with 1/4 tsp salt and 1 tsp of olive oil afterwards. 

  4. Add the wheatberries to a bowl together with the roasted vegetables. 

  5. Heat up a pan to medium heat without adding any oil. Add sunflower seeds and dry roast for 2 to 3 minutes until fragrant and golden brown. Stay close by and stir every now and then to avoid them burning. Add to the bowl as well. 

  6. For the dressing, blend together fresh coriander, tahini, salt, lime juice and water. Blend until smooth, then pour over the salad. 

  7. Mix all together well and serve immediately or keep in the fridge for a few hours. Enjoy!

Keywords: lunch, lunch salad, salad, wheatberry, wheatberry salad, roasted vegetables, Ebly, Sonnenweizen, green dressing, summer salad, side dish, vegan, vegan salad, vegetarian, vegetarian salad,
Andrea Epstein in her kitchen
Andrea Epstein

Hi, I'm Andrea, a full-time food blogger, mother of 1 wonderful son, 2 equally wonderful stepsons and wife to a darling husband. I live in Munich, Germany with my family. I loves traveling, sharing new recipes, and spending time with my family.