wheat berry caprese salad

In attempt to bring out the best of my cooking abilities, Jon has been asking me to try working with new ingredients, such as wheat berry. Oh, why haven’t I tried this magical ingredient sooner! Until recently I had never used wheat berry in my recipes and was pretty much clueless when it came to cooking with this grain. I always tend to stick to rice, potatoes and couscous when it comes to side dishes, as well as to quinoa and bulgur for salads. But once I tried cooking with wheat berry it opened a whole new world of inspiration that resulted in a new recipe: this wheat berry caprese salad.

If I could have one salad for the rest of my life it would most probably be tomato and mozzarella — otherwise known as caprese. Made up of sliced tomato, mozzarella, herbs, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, caprese is one of the only salads that can keep me full until dinner time.

The idea of combining wheat berry with caprese came to me when I was tweaking a wheat berry salad with red and green onion recipe I found on Epicurious. I loved the way the recipe called for cooking red onion in a balsamic vinegar sauce before mixing it with wheat berry. As red onions and balsamic vinegar go perfectly well with tomato and mozzarella, I decided to combine all of the latter with wheat berry and a pinch of dried thyme to create this hearty salad.

You’ll find the recipe below for the salad, but in the meantime I would like to share with you some great news — I GOT NOMINATED FOR A LIEBSTER AWARD! You’re probably wondering what that is (I had no idea either). The Liebster Awards were created to bring awareness to food bloggers, newbies and lesser known bloggers alike. When nominated, the blogger has to answer 11 questions asked by the presenter and in turn nominate five bloggers and ask them another set of 11 questions. I was so excited when Cheyanne over at No Spoon Necessary nominated me that I couldn’t wait to spread the news with you, answer her questions and nominate some of my favorite food bloggers. So here goes!

As promised, here are my answers to No Spoon Necessary‘s questions:

What is your favorite part of blogging?

Absolutely everything from A to Z! But if I had to pick my favorite, it would be all the great connections and friendships I’ve made so far. Food blogging has allowed me to share my passion with other food lovers and build a special bond with them. One of the most incredible connections I made thanks to savormania is with Geneviève from The Fit Mrs. We started randomly following each other on Instagram and I noticed on her profile that she was soon moving to Geneva, my hometown. I decided to comment on one of her photos saying that she can always get in touch with me if she needs any tips when she moves to Geneva. After a couple of messages we realized that we have tons of friends in common, got married the same summer, our husbands are both called Jon, and the most astounding of all, we were going to be neighbours!

What is your least favorite part of blogging?

I’d have to admit that it is editing photos. I’m an experienced journalist and writer but not much of a photographer. Savormania is a way for me to improve my photography, and I hope to look back at my first posts in a couple of months and see how much better I’ve become. Photo editing is entirely new to me so it takes me much longer to understand all the tools that are available to me.

Are you organized or chaotic in the kitchen?

Organized! Thank God I have a dishwasher. I always like to clean up after we finish our meal. I can’t go to sleep knowing that my kitchen is a mess!

Name one pantry staple you cannot live without.

RICE. Most probably because I was born and raised in Taiwan, where rice is eaten with almost every meal. I just can’t live without it.

What camera and lens(es) do you shoot with?

I shoot with a Canon PowerShot SX30 IS and occasionally with my sister’s Nikon DSLR when I manage to steal it!

What is your favorite dish you have prepared on your blog?

That’s a tough question! All the recipes I share on savormania are my absolute favorites. I’d say the peanut butter cookies stuffed with nutella, simply because it was the subject of my first blog post and because I’m crazy about peanut butter!

Do you have any food allergies?

I don’t, but I am lactose intolerant which is quite ironic since I LOVE CHEESE and have so many dairy recipes on the blog. Thankfully pills exist and allow me to continue to indulge in many of my favorite foods 🙂

Is there any food you absolutely refuse to try, ever?

Frog legs…

If you had to live off one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Peanut butter!

If you were stranded on an island and you could only take 5 things, what would you take?

I know he isn’t a “thing”, but I’d definitely take my husband Jon with me. As well as my computer, cellphone, a bikini and a camera to capture all the beauty!

I hereby nominate the following food bloggers for a Liebster Award:

1. Bam’s Kitchen
2. Chocolate & Sea Salt
3. The Cupcake Confession
4. The Fit Mrs
5. The Merchant Baker

My questions for the nominees:

1. Why did you start food blogging?
2. How did you come up with the name of your blog?
3. How would you describe your cooking style?
4. What is your first cooking memory?
5. What is your favorite and least favorite food?
6. If you had to get rid of every kitchen appliance you own except one, which one would that be?
7. What are you the most proud of on your blog?
8. What is your favorite cuisine?
9. What is your best recipe that all your friends and family are crazy about?
10. Which spices are must-haves in your kitchen?
11. What is your go-to recipe for the nights you’re too tired to cook?

Many thanks again to No Spoon Necessary for nominating me. I look forward to reading all of your answers and helping raise awareness of other food bloggers’ amazing work!

wheat berry caprese salad

 

Print

Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

45 mins

 

Recipe type: Salad

Cuisine: Italian

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1 cup pre-cooked wheat berry
• Pinch of salt
• 1 medium red onion, thinly diced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme (or dried basil)
• 1 ½ cups deseeded and chopped tomatoes
• 3.5 ounces (100g) mozzarella, cut into small pieces

Instructions

1. In a small saucepan, combine wheat berry with lots of water and salt. The water amount should be at least double the amount of wheat berry. Cover and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for time stated on the package. The Swiss box of pre-cooked wheat berry takes only 10 to 15 minutes to cook. When the wheat berry is cooked, place in a sieve to drain and allow to cool.
2. In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, sauté the red onion for 2 minutes until softened but not golden. Add the balsamic vinegar and thyme and cook, stirring often, for 1 more minute until fragrant. Let cool to room temperature.
3. Combine wheat berry, red onion with balsamic vinegar and thyme, tomatoes and mozzarella in a serving bowl. Mix to combine and coat the wheat berry in the balsamic vinegar sauce. Serve at room temperature.

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How did your wheat berry caprese salad come out? Share photos of your recipe on Instagram by tagging #savormania