Wheatberry salad with sweet potatoes, fried halloumi & dill vinaigrette

What kale was to 2014, grain salads will be to 2015 - and with good reason. Whole grains, like wheat, oats, millet and barley, are an excellent source of fiber and plant-based protein. They are identified as ‘whole’ because they have all their edible parts still attached, just as nature intended. This is why whole foods are the most nutritious and beneficial for us to eat.

I personally love grain salads because they are satisfying and really versatile. The formula I stick to is: a cooked grain, a roasted vegetable (sweet potato, squash, cauliflower, etc.), a leafy green vegetable, a bright vinaigrette, and a fun topper, like cheese or a bit of bacon. For this recipe, I went with fried halloumi cheese as the “fun” ingredient. Halloumi is a cheese of Middle Eatern origin. It looks and tastes sort of like packaged mozzarella (salty, rubbery), but it doesn’t melt when fried. It softens and crisps up instead, taking on a strong umami flavor. You can find halloumi at the cheese counter of most markets, and if you’ve never tried it, do yourself a favor and pick some up. You will not regret it.

Ingredients:
(Yield: 4-6 servings)

• 1 c wheatberries, soaked overnight or for at least 8 hours in cold water
• 2 medium sweet potatoes, cut into 1″ cubes
• 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
• 1 stalk celery, finely diced
• 2 c tightly packed baby spinach leaves, roughly chopped
• 8 1/4″ slices of halloumi cheese (about 4 oz)

Dressing:

• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp brown mustard
• 1 1/2 tsp honey
• 1 tbsp finely chopped dill
• 1 tbsp finely diced shallot
• 1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
• Salt + freshly ground black pepper

Procedure: Drain and rinse soaked wheatberries and place in a medium pot. Add enough water to cover wheatberries by 4″, season with 1/2 tsp salt, cover tightly with a lid and bring to a boil. Then turn heat down to simmer, and cook for 40-50 minutes. Cooked wheatberries will be retain their shape and have a chewy texture.
To roast potatoes, preheat oven to 400F. Toss sweet potatoes with 1 tbsp oil and salt and pepper on a baking sheet. Bake until softened and caramelized, 20-30 minutes, tossing once halfway through cooking.
To make dressing, whisk together all ingredients in a bowl.
To fry halloumi, heat 1 tbsp oil in a large skillet. Fry halloumi slices for about 40 seconds per side.
To assemble, toss together cooked wheatberries, warm potatoes, celery and spinach in a bowl right before serving. Toss with about half of the dressing, adding more if you’d like. Top with hot halloumi cheese and serve immediately.