| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 1 hr 30 min |
| Prep: | 10 min |
| Cook: | 1 hr 20 min |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 cups wheat berries
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 bundle fresh thyme
- Kosher salt
- 4 ounces slab bacon, cut into lardons
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 red onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice
- Pinch crushed red pepper
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary, leaves picked and finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed and finely chopped
- 1 1/2 pounds assorted mushrooms, sliced (shiitake, cremini or oyster work well)
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 1 bunch fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped
Instructions
- Put the wheat berries in a medium saucepan and toss in the bay leaf and thyme bundle. Fill the pan with water and season abundantly with salt. Bring the water to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer the wheat berries until they are soft, 1 hour. Drain the wheat berries and reserve.
- In a large straight-sided saute pan, render the bacon until almost crispy. Add a few drops of olive oil and add the onions. Season the onions with salt, a pinch of crushed red pepper and the rosemary. Bring the pan to a medium heat and cook the onions for 6 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 2 to 3 minutes longer.
- Add the mushrooms and stir to coat with the oil. Season the mushrooms with salt and cook them for 5 to 6 minutes. Add the wine and cook until the wine has reduced by half. Toss in the wheat berries and the chicken stock. Cook until the stock has reduced almost all the way but the salad is not dry.
- Stir in the parsley and serve warm or at room temperature.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 4 servings |
| Calories | 540 |
| Total Fat | 19 g |
| Saturated Fat | 5 g |
| Carbohydrates | 75 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 14 g |
| Sugar | 6 g |
| Protein | 19 g |
| Cholesterol | 20 mg |
| Sodium | 924 mg |
Reviews
It was ok. I guess I need to adjust my palate to like the healthier recipes, but something seemed to be lacking in the flavor department.
I wouldn’t call this a salad but a lovely side dish or even a main dish for vegetarians if you omitting the bacon. I happened to use the tree mushroom trio sold at Costco in addition to cremini mushrooms and it was excellent. I did have “trouble” determining when the wheat berries were appropriately done so I let them cook for 1 1/2 hours before draining and it seemed just fine. Definitely a keeper! BTW, I used Bob’s Red Mill Red hard Spring Wheat Berries that I found at my local market and I added Better Than Bouillon vegetable base to the wheat berries when they where cooking.
I have never cooked with wheat berries before and I thought this recipe was really delicious. I used about half of the salt (maybe even 1/4 that was recommended, more mushrooms, and added a bunch of chopped kale. The flavor of all the herbs and the bacon was perfect, although I might try it with pancetta next time. I am going to try using wheat berries with my favorite risotto recipes.
I made this tonight and really love it. I found wheat berries at Whole Foods, they had a white parboiled varity and a red hard variety, I chose the red hard and soaked overnight then cooked as directed and it turned out perfectly. I am thinking maybe the the parboiled would not have to soak overnight. After reading the reviews, I did not salt the boiling water, and I was not overly generous salting the mushrooms and onions when cooking and had to add just a little bit more at the end. I’d rather add a little at the end than have a dish that is too salty to fix. This was very easy to make, and very good. I will be making again.
I’m going to give this five stars for taste, but I apparently used the wrong kind of wheatberries– the ones I got weren’t as big as the ones I saw on the show, and even though I cooked them for almost 90 minutes they were still very chewy. Next time I think I’m going to try making this with barley instead.
I use wheat berries often, usually mixing them (cooked into cooked brown rice. This recipe is very good as long as you are aware that AB (Ann Burrell, not Alton Brown over salts everything. Also I would cut the bay leaf in half…it’s too herbie. The concept, however, is great.
This recipe is AMAZING but I could not give it a full five stars because of how salty it was – delicious, but salty. Apparently my partner and Chef Anne Burrell (love her! have very different ideas of what “abundantly salt the water” means because he feels he followed her directions to the letter – I’m still drinking water to make up for the extreme amount of sodium I took in while eating this recipe. Again, delicious – but don’t go crazy with salting the water as the bacon provides its own salty goodness too.
I made this tonight I was amazed how tasty it was. I follow the recipe to the letter. We enjoyed it at room temperture. I will made this again and again Thank you Anne
This was so good! Definately worth the time. The whole family loved it. Everyone is munching it waiting for the pork to finish.
My family loved this side dish! I have no idea what wheat berries are so I just used texmati rice and left out the wine & stock. Kept everything else the same. Delicious with the Braised Pork Shoulder.