Wheat Berry Salad

This simple salad has chewy grains, herbaceous herbs, crunchy vegetables, tangy cheese, and sweet grapes.  Yum, yum, yum, ummmm.   Please try it, you may love it.

Ingredients:

1 cup of wheat berries (cook according to package directions)

1 cup of faro (cook according to package directions.

While the grains are cooking, prepare the remaining ingredients and combine in a large bowl:

2 cups of sliced sweet seedless red grapes

3 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh mint

1 cucumber, peeled and chopped

1 yellow bell pepper, chopped

8 oz. feta, crumbled

1 lemon, juiced

1/4 cup olive oil

3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. pepper

Once the grains are cooked, mix with the remaining prepared ingredients.  Now, eat it up. 

Eat this for lunch, a side dish at dinner, or take it to a potluck!  

Enjoy!

Vegetable-y Bean Dip

There came unto me a thought that I might make some sort of dip. I really love the thought of making a dip for vegetables out of vegetables.  Throw some beans and tahini in there for a bit of protein and fiber and you got yourself a delicious treat!  It's a great nutritional pick-me-up if you need a boost in the late afternoon, but don't have time for a meal.  I just pull it out of the fridge and dip in a few carrots, radishes, or cucumbers.

The nice thing about this recipe is that you can completely customize it with any kind of bean and vegetables you have.

Ingredients:

1- 15oz. can of Great Northern Beans- drained

               OR

1/2 cup of dried beans soaked and cooked.

1 red bell pepper, chopped

2 small onions, chopped

5 cloves of Garlic, chopped

1 Jalapeno

10 mushrooms, sliced

3-4 Tbsp. tahini (sesame seed paste)

1 tsp. ground cayanne (optional)

Drizzle 2-3 Tablespoons in a large skillet and toss in the onion, pepper, garlic, and jalapeno.  Saute about 8-10 minutes until the veggies are soft. Throw in the mushrooms and saute another 7 minutes.  Let the mixture cool about 10 minutes.  Drain all of the liquid off that you can.

Use your blender, cuisinart, or food processor to combine the vegetables, tahini, beans, and ground cayanne until smooth.  Taste, add salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy this snack with crackers, cucumbers, radishes, turnips, carrots, peppers, or spread on bread.