By Dana McMahan
FoodConnect Louisville
dana@foodconnect.com

Wheatberries + Cranberries Make a Yummy Vegetarian Thanksgiving Dish

The first Thanksgiving I spent at my in-laws after I stopped eating meat was not exactly a success. The family spent the entire holiday weekend noshing on leftovers – they had the obligatory turkey, ham, stuffing (definitely not made with vegetable stock), mashed potatoes and gravy, and thankfully, dessert. I took a dish “to pass” as my husband’s family calls it, a cranberry and wheatberry salad. Every member of the family eyed my large bowl of odd vegetarian food with some skepticism and reached past it for some meat and stuffing. That was fortunate for me, since I was able to eat on it for several days.

I still wonder why everyone found it so strange. Cranberries are part of Thanksgiving aren’t they? And what’s a wheatberry but the mother grain of all things good, like pasta and flour? In their whole form, they’re yummy nutty-tasting super nutritious little things. They’re nothing scary, just the whole wheat kernel.

I hadn’t made a wheatberry salad in a few years probably, when I saw organic spring wheatberries at the Heritage Harvest Farm stand at my farmer’s market last Saturday. I couldn’t resist buying a pound, and was most happy to see the farmer had a recipe from the be-all end-all bakery in town, Blue Dog. They make a delicious wheatberry salad at their café, and they shared it with the local paper.

I grabbed the recipe from the Web the next day and made my own (slightly modified) version. It lasts for days, just like my Thanksgiving salad from years ago. And it was so good I’ll definitely make it the next time I take a dish to pass at a Thanksgiving dinner. And if people are too put off by the “weird vegetarian food” to taste it, well that’s ok, it’s more for me. But trust me, you’ll like this.

1 pound wheat berries
2 cups (10 ounces) frozen limas
1 cup grapeseed oil
1/4 cup raspberry red wine vinegar
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup walnuts, chopped
2 cups diced celery
1 cup chopped scallions
Salt and pepper, to taste
In a large saucepan cover berries with water. Cook for about an hour until al dente. Drain.
Blanch limas. Drain.
Combine oil and vinegar. Add to warm berries and limas and toss.
When berries mixture has cooled, add cranberries, walnuts, celery and scallions. Toss. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Makes 10 to 12 servings.