Monday Nutrition Tip of the Week: What Not to Eat

The other day it occurred to me that all the recipes I post on my blog are just so good! Or awesome! Or loved it! That makes it sound that my adventures in clean eating are nothing but sweetness and light, but in reality I've had my share of clunkers.

True, 95% of  things I make end up being pretty good. But I attribute that to my ability to foresee which flavors I'm going to enjoy together. I've sampled "healthy stuff" widely, so I know that black bean sweet potato enchiladas, while bizarre sounding, are going to be good.

Regardless, my service to you ought to be as much about the yummy stuff as the stuff that maybe doesn't work out so well. Maybe I can save you the heartache of adding turnips to your roasted root vegetables.

The misadventure I'm going to tell you about today happened several months back. I read a rave review on the fooducate blog about wheat berries, which were described as a whole grain with a nutty taste that would take down barley and quinoa in a head-to-head competition. I think quinoa rocks the house, so I figured wheat berries would blow me away.

Wa Waaaaah. Not so much.

I followed the recipe in the fooducate post for wheat berry salad, and I wasn't too impressed. I cooked those dang "berries" for an hour. An HOUR! And they were still hard. So I cooked them for almost another half hour, and they were still too hard for my liking. At that point it was time to get them into salad form or risk the absence of the dish at dinnertime.

I tossed all the ingredients together, and still...underwhelmed. I didn't particularly enjoy the taste, and the consistency was nothing to write home about, either. Give me quinoa any day. The remainder of the uncooked wheat berries have been languishing in my pantry ever since.

So, here's the recipe for wheat berry salad that I thought was kind of gross, which I realize is like when your mom takes a swig of milk that's on the verge of souring and asks you, "Will you taste this? I think it may be going bad."

Wheatberry Salad
(8 servings)
2 cups wheat berries (soft or hard)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 medium red onion, chopped
6 scallions, white and green parts, sliced
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 lemon
salt and pepper (to taste)

In a saucepan, place the wheat berries, salt, and 6 cups water. Bring to a boil, cover, and then simmer for one hour. Wheat berries are done when you like the consistency (chewy but not gummy).

While the wheat berries are cooking, do the necessary chopping (dice the pepper, carrots, and onion – slice the scallions). Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium low heat and saute onions until translucent (about five minutes).

In a large bowl, mix pepper, carrots, cooked onion with olive oil, scallions and apple cider vinegar. Juice lemon and add to bowl.

When wheat berries are done, drain them in a fine meshed sieve and dump hot berries into bowl. Mix, taste, and adjust with salt and pepper. Let flavors meld for about an hour (or eat immediately).

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Workout of the Day

P.A.P. Upper (homemade workout)