Greek-ish Salad with Spelt Berries

I'm back!!! It has been killing me to be away from the blog and the kitchen. I am finally settled in to my new surroundings and as of last night I FINALLY have an Internet connection. Let me tell you, the people at AT&T were useless when it came to setting that up (no offense if you work there, but it was a PAIN). Anwayyyyy, happy Friday!! I am so happy to have something to share with you.

I have been looking for healthier meals that don't skimp on flavor. As I briefly mentioned last week, I am on a quest to be hot by my next birthday. In fact, I even joined a gym last week as part of my mission. Even though the farmers market is no longer down the street, I managed to squeeze in a trip last weekend. I loaded up on veggies with this salad in mind, but I wasn't sure how it was going to come together. I should not have been worried. It was really delicious. I have had the spelt berries for a while because I wanted to see how they compared to other grains I have used. They are very similar to wheat berries. In fact, I didn't really notice a difference. Since they take so long to cook, you can use that time to chop the vegetables, do a load of laundry, give yourself a manicure, or whatever else you're in the mood for. Instead of making a real dressing, I just added a couple splashes of vinegar and a splash of olive oil until I got something that I liked. Since I had salted the water that the spelt was cooked in and the olives and feta are salty, I was really careful about the amount of salt I added to the finished product, plus I was serving it to someone who can't have too much sodium. Not only did it get rave reviews from that person, but I thought it was pretty darn good myself. This is perfect for summer when you don't feel like doing a lot of cooking and you want something fresh. Plus it is delicious without making you feel guilty after eating it!

PS, thanks to my Twitter friends for helping me pick red wine vinegar over balsamic. Is was the right way to go!





Greek-ish Salad with Spelt Berries
(By Esi)

Makes 2-3 servings

1 cup spelt berries
4 Roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
2-3 handfuls baby spinach, roughly chopped
4-5 Persian cucumbers, chopped
2 tablespoons sliced black olives
Red wine vinegar to taste
Extra-virgin olive oil to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Cook the spelt berries according to package instructions. Drain and rinse with cold water to cool the spelt down. While the spelt is cooking, chop all the vegetables and mix together in a large bowl. Lightly season with salt and pepper. Add the cooled spelt berries to the vegetable mix and toss to combine. Add vinegar and olive oil to taste and season with more salt and pepper if necessary. Spoon the salad onto plates and top each plate with the crumbled feta.

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