Roasted Root Vegetables & Wheat Berries

You can stay classic with just carrots or you can add in any root vegetable like rutabaga, parsnips, butternut squash, turnips, celery root, salsify,  - you name it! It works! You can also use this to try new grains like einkorn, kamut, spelt, emmer, farro…. Even buckwheat groats. 

Roasted Root Vegetable & Wheat Berry Salad
DavidLebovitz.com

1 1/2 cup (300g) wheat berries or farro
one bay leaf
2 pounds (1kg) assorted root vegetables; carrots, rutabagas, butternut squash, celery root, parsnips, and salsify, peeled and cut into thumbnail-sized cubes
1 large red onion peeled and diced
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons (80ml) olive oil
10 or so branches of fresh thyme
salt and freshly-ground black pepper
1/2 cup (60g) dried cranberries or cherries, coarsely chopped

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

We’ll start with cooking the grain in well-salted water with a bay leaf. Depending on the variety you’re using, this can take 40-60 minutes.

In the meantime, peel and chop your root vegetables into thumbnail sized pieces. And dice a red onion, or whatever you have laying around, like a shallot.

Now toss them onto a baking sheet with olive oil, thyme sprigs, salt and pepper.

Roast for 20 minutes, stirring them halfway. Make sure they are cooked through and browned on the outside. Once everything is finished cooking, you’ll stir it all together.

Take the cooked grains, remove the bay leaf, and stir with the root vegetables, removing the thyme sprigs if you prefer. This is also a good place to add dried fruits like cranberries or cherries, even some nuts and/or soft crumbly cheese.

Use some stellar olive oil to bring it all together. You might need a splash of vinegar and just because I like mustard, I’m using a mustard vinaigrette!

In the original recipe, David includes several other variations which make this a very easy foundation to build on as you find yourself blessed with lots of root vegetables and grains. This is wonderful served warm, room temperature, or even cold.

Original recipe & additional variation suggestions here: http://www.davidlebovitz.com/roasted-root-vegetable-wheat-ber/