Wheat Berry Salad with Pine Nuts - Caroline

A tremendous recipe from one of our great customers, Caroline!


I wanted to send you that awesome recipe made with wheat berries......mmmmmm.....soooooo good! As I said, it's a little bit of effort, but worth every minute spent. I've done various renditions of this recipe (depending on what's in my fridge and pantry),  and it always turns out beautifully, but the best version is always this one - the original.
                                               Wheat Berries Salad with Pine Nuts

(One day prior to making the salad, make preserved lemon - see step one in recipe)

Preserved Lemon
3-4 lemons
1 tbsp coarse kosher or pickling salt

Wheat
1 cup hard wheat berries
1 1/2 tsp salt, divided
1 cup medium or coarse bulgur
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1/2 cup pine nuts
2 large, unpeeled garlic cloves

Salad
Juice of 1 large lemon
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
2 green onions, thinly sliced
3/4 to 1 cup chopped fresh parsley
3-4 large Roma or plum tomatoes
3-4 tbsp chopped fresh mint

1. To quickly prepare preserved lemon, lash sides of washed lemon 6 times, evenly spaced, from just below top to just above bottom. Work coarse salt into slashes. Place in a small wide-mouth preserving jar or ordinary glass measure. Microwave, uncovered, for 1 minute or until skin feels hot. Juice remaining 2-3 lemons; pour over hot whole lemon until just covered. Wedge lemon in jar, if necessary, to keep from floating. Cover and let stand at room temperature for half a day or overnight; then refrigerate.

2. Generously cover wheat berries with cold water in a medium saucepan; add 1/2 tsp salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until tender, about 45 minutes; drain. Meanwhile, combine bulgur, 1 tsp salt and measured boiling water in a mixing bowl; let stand while berries are cooking.

3. Place pine nuts and unpeeled garlic cloves in a small heavy skillet over low heat. Shake pan frequently for 8-10 minutes or until pine nuts are golden. Watch carefully, as pine nuts burn easily. Cool; then peel and mince garlic.

4. To make salad, stir drained wheat berries into undrained bulgur. Whisk lemon juice with olive oil, garlic and 1/2 tsp salt. Stir dressing into wheat along with green onions and parsley. For best flavour, cover and refrigerate for several hours.

5. When ready to serve, remove a couple sections of preserved lemon. Cut away mushy interior and most of the white; very finely dice remaining yellow peel. Cut tomatoes in half lengthwise. Use a spoon to scoop out seedy interior. Dice remaining tomato shells. Stir preserved lemon, mint, tomatoes and pine nuts into salad. Serve in a large bowl.