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It's no secret that whole grains are good for you; they help reduce the risk of stroke, diabetes, and heart disease and are beneficial in maintaining healthy weight and blood pressure. A simple addition of cooked grains into your meatloaf, or adding a cupful to your soup is an easy and tasty way to incorporate the benefits of grains.
The key to rotating grains into your diet is planning, as they do take longer to cook than pasta or rice. As with dried beans, soaking grains overnight can cut their cooking times nearly in half. If you are making a large salad like this one, cook more grains than required for the recipe so there is extra to add to your cereal in the morning or to sprinkle over that lunchtime salad.
1 cup wheat berries
1 cup pearl barley
1/2 cup quinoa
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 navel oranges, peeled and segmented
¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
½ red onion, finely chopped
6 radishes, very thinly sliced
12/ cup toasted sliced almonds
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
Butter lettuce leaves, for serving
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and lightly salt it. Stir in wheat berries, lower the heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir in the barley and continue cooking until grains are tender, about 40 minutes. Drain. Meanwhile, bring a small pot of water to a boil, lightly salt it and stir in quinoa; cook until just tender and germ starts to separate from the grain, about 20 minutes. Drain and stir all the grains together in a mixing bowl.
2. While grains are cooking, whisk together orange juice and mustard until combined, While whisking, drizzle in olive oil until emulsified; season with salt and pepper. While grains are still slightly warm, stir in the dressing; allow to cool completely before folding in the onion, radishes, orange segments, almonds, and mint.
3. Serve salad in individual butter lettuce leaves, or line a serving platter with them and mound the salad on top.
Serves 6-8.