Red Lentil Wheat Berry Salad

This red lentil wheat berry salad is simple, flavorful, and perfect to make ahead for on-the-go lunches or picnics.

this recipe

You and I need to talk about this red lentil wheat berry salad. It's SUPER easy and so healthy! What I love about it is you can make a big batch on Sunday, and have it ready for the week to take with you to work, or just to have on hand when you're like, "I'm hungry NOW and I don't want to wait for food to cook!!!" Right? I mean, I'm like that at least three times a day ;).

If you've never had wheat berries before, this red lentil wheat berry salad is the perfect opportunity to try them. They remind me of barley, because they have a slightly nutty flavor and chewy texture. You can add them to salads, as a side dish in place of rice or other grains, or even eat them for breakfast (I recommend this Wheat Berry Breakfast Bowl from 101 Cookbooks). The red lentil wheat berry salad that I'm about to share with you would be great on its own or as a side dish with something else. If you don't have red lentils, any kind of lentil will work.

The dressing for this recipe is zesty and bright--you will love it! It's simple and could go with pretty much any salad, and is made with ingredients you likely already have on hand. If you let the salad chill for at least an hour, it will marinade in the dressing and soak up all of the flavors--so worth the wait! I actually don't recommend serving it with warm ingredients, but if you don't have time to let it chill, make sure all of your ingredients are well-chilled to begin with (pre-cook the lentils and wheat berries and chill them).

It's seriously so easy! All you have to do is cook the red lentils and wheat berries, which is pretty hands-off, so you can do other stuff around the house while you're waiting. And by 'other stuff' I mean set up pranks for when your family members or roommates come home, have a dance party, slide down some stairs in a sleeping bag, build a fort... anything besides chores or getting caught up with emails.

Okay, well I sort of take that back. One of the things you should definitely do while you're waiting is chop the celery, green onions, and parsley... but wheat berries take a long time to cook, so you'll have time for other shenanigans. I promise.

As for non-cooking news, I'm moving on June 1. Anyone who has been in their twenties or is in their twenties probably understands what it's like to move all the time. Once a year...at least. Unless you're lucky enough to find a place that you love, and your number of roommates never changes for several years. That definitely hasn't been the case for me. But for the first time in... well, as long as I've been in Madison (a decently long time), I'm excited to move into this new place! It gets a lot of natural light, is really spacious, not to mention it has an actual bedroom, separate from the living and kitchen area. Right now I basically live in a big rectangle--not that I have anything against big rectangles... but maybe I kind of miss living the non big-rectangle-oh-hai-my-fridge-is-in-the-same-room-as-my-bed sort of life??? Bottom line, I'm pretty excited about room divisions.

I was shown two rooms, and I made my decision based on whether I would get morning or afternoon light... I chose morning light, since I'm quite the morning person. I am gone from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays, however. I suppose I can enjoy the morning light on the weekends, when I'm taking tons of recipe photographs 😉

Anyway, you have a salad to make, so go!!