Test cook Keith Dresser makes Julia a Wheat Berry Salad with Radicchio, Dried Cherries, and Pecans.
Get our recipe for Wheat Berry Salad:
Buy our winning large saucepan:
Buy our winning bench scraper:
Buy our winning baking sheet:
Buy our winning chefs knife:
Browse our latest recipes:
ABOUT US: Located in Boston’s Seaport District in the historic Innovation and Design Building, America’s Test Kitchen features 15,000 square feet of kitchen space including multiple photography and video studios. It is the home of Cook’s Illustrated magazine and Cook’s Country magazine and is the workday destination for more than 60 test cooks, editors, and cookware specialists. Our mission is to test recipes over and over again until we understand how and why they work and until we arrive at the best version.
If you like us, follow us:
Related posts
33 Comments
Leave a Reply Cancel reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Well, when a grain has to simmer 60 to 80 minutes to cook through, then using a 1:1 or 1:2 ratio of grain to water obviously won't work. Long before the food is done the liquid will have cooked away. I'd try to use a large slow cooker for this if the texture isn't compromised and so my apartment won't turn into a sauna. (I'm curious about Julia's odd reaction to the shallot. That's a member of the onion family, not a tray of pastries she's Mmming over.)
Can anyone suggest a nondairy alternative to the bleu cheese? Thank you.
This is a terrific salad that was well received in our house. The original recipe is fantastic and also is flexible enough to withstand substitutions. While we were stuck inside during a massive ice storm, I made it subbing roasted hazelnuts for the pecans, finely chopped green onions for the shallot, and cranberries for the cherries. Still awesome. We love it for lunch. I hope to take it to a group gathering someday since it will withstand being at room temperature without sacrificing texture or flavor. Huge fan!
This salad does not look nice.
For those on a budget, farro from Trader Joe’s is a good sub for the wheat berries. A couple of bucks a package, cooks in 10 or so minutes. They don’t always have it, so stock up when you see it.
TY,that is a fabulous salad.
It looks good but 2 callouts here:
1.soaking whole grains overnight is absolutely necessary to make those digestible; 8+ hours is the minimum. Do not skip this step
2.Use ancient grains, not modern wheat: modern wheat is very poorly tolerated by our bodies and it's not like you don't have delicious options with ancient grains (rye, kamut, einkorn, spelt, emkaput,
As an example, whenever I eat modern wheat my body gets extremely achy within a day. The minute I stop eating it my body stops aching within a day…
Here:
Radicchio is a leafy member of the chicory family, often called Italian chicory, which explains its bold, bitter flavor.
Although it's compact like red cabbage, radicchio's leaves are thinner and more tender, unlike red cabbage's firm and waxy texture. Red cabbage is a variety of cabbage with reddish-purple leaves.
Thank you, Keith. 👍
ATK, HELLO GEE this looks like ,something,I could really get into, THANKS,SAY WELL,;;;;🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
that looks deelish. thanks
How about some roasted pine nuts.
🙂👍🏻
Cooking grain for an hour or more to make a salad? I’m too impatient.
ATK…can you please do the 7 grain salad please 🙏🏾
That would be awesome with a porkchop.
Love wheatberries and actually have some on hand. Thanks for the tip.
That salad looks delicious and the flexibility size it up makes it really appealing. Please continue to add meatless dishes.
An alterative way to do this recipe is to sprout the wheat berries instead of cooking them.
If you use sprouted wheat berries, you would have to plan ahead, because it takes 1 to 3 days to sprout wheat berries.
Looks delish! I cook my wheat berries in the Instant Pot, they turn out perfect every time.
It's getting more difficult to find wheat berries in the market. I used to buy the Bob's Red Mill but they are no longer available from that brand. When I contacted the company they said they are not longer selling them but suggested Kamut as a substitute. The Kamut is very similar in nutritional value and I bought it but haven't tried it yet. I make a salad very similar to this but add lots more veggies—celery, red onion, carrots, diced romaine, sliced kalamata olives, and top it off with some feta. By adding more veggies it lowers the calories—wheat berries are quite high in calories with about 170 calories per cooked half cup. If the salad is mostly wheat berries that can add up quite quickly. And I add some sunflower seeds to my salad instead of walnuts or pecans—another lower-calorie option.
It would be good with dried cranberries instead of cherries too
that is not enough vinaigrette… this is why people think vegan type of foods are so boring.
Can’t wait to make it! I picked cherries this summer and pitted and dehydrated hem. They are so tasty!
Hi ATK 😋
Salutations from California
4:37 I had a dish almost the same with this on Thanksgiving weekend in a cafe in Southern California ~4 years ago. Instead of wheat berries, it had farro, and sour cherries dried cranberries; the vinegar was balsamic, and no blue cheese used (probably because not everyone liked it). It was even more delicious than imagined.
I’d like to try with raisins instead of cherries for more sweetness as don’t like taste of vinegar much.
Oh that looks and sounds SO GOOD.
OMG. That's so awesome.
Having explained how, perhaps you could explain why!!
Keith you are so sexy. Im always happy when you cook 🥰 Happy and blessed 2023
👏🏻
I don't have wheat berries but I do have farro and I cook it like pasta until al dente which can take 40 to 60 minutes!