During recent visits to Victoria’s Moss Street Market and farm market/food stores in Saanich and Saanichton, I was reminded that winter is also a season in which you can purchase locally grown produce.
Among the items I saw, were ones that store well, such as cabbage, hard-shell (winter) squashes and root vegetables, such as beets, onions, yams and parsnips. But I also found recently harvested items, such as sturdy greens, including kale, Brussels sprouts and broccoli.
A nutritious mix of things, for sure, and I purchased some of them, along with some wheat berries, and made a winter salad with them.
Those wheat berries came from Saanichton Farm (), which produces a variety of local grains, such as wheat and barley, and grain products, such as flour and wheat berries, and sells them at local food stores.
I bought their wheat berries, and the vegetables I used in my salad, at Dan’s Farm and Country Market, 2030 Bear Hill Rd. Wheat berries are whole, hulled wheat kernels, which contain the bran, germ and endosperm, and provide a range of good-for-you things, such as vitamin B and E, fibre, protein and iron.
At home, you can grind the wheat berries and make your own flour. You can also simmer and cook those wheat berries in a generous amount of water, as you would with barley, until tender, but still pleasingly chewy. You can add those cooked wheat berries to a range of things, such as bread dough, porridge, hot side dishes, soups, stews and salads.
To make my salad, leaves of fresh kale were torn into small pieces and combined in a bowl with cooked wheat berries, thinly sliced apple, shredded red cabbage, almonds, roasted pieces of yams and brussels sprouts and a tangy dressing. It’s a hearty salad you could serve on its own for lunch, or as side dish for a dinner entree, what I did, serving it with roasted locally-made sausages.
Winter Salad with Island Vegetables and Wheat Berries
This hearty, sustaining salad combines locally grown vegetables and wheat berries with sliced apples, nuts and a tangy dressing.
Preparation time: 40 minutes
Cooking time: 80 to 90 minutes
Makes: four to six servings
1/2 cup wheat berries (see Eric’s options)
2 cups peeled yams, cut into 1/2- to 1-inch cubes
12 small Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
4 Tbsp olive oil (divided)
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp lemon juice, plus more, if needed
1 Royal Gala, Granny Smith or other medium red or green B.C. apple, quartered, cored and thinly sliced
4 cups, packed torn kale leaves
1 cup thinly shredded red cabbage
1/3 cup whole, skin-on almonds (see Eric’s options)
Place wheat berries in a tall, narrow pot, cover with 8 cups cold water, set over medium-high heat and bring to a gentle simmer. Lower heat as needed to maintain that gentle simmer. Simmer wheat berries until tender, but sill pleasantly chewy, about 60 to 70 minutes. Drain wheat berries well, let cool to room temperature and then use as directed below (see Eric’s options).
Preheat oven 400 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, unless it’s non-stick. Place yams, Brussels sprouts and 2 Tbsp olive oil on the baking sheet, season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Spread yams and sprouts out so they sit in a single layer. Now roast them 20 minutes, or until tender. Remove from the oven and set the yams and sprouts aside for now.
Place remaining 2 Tbsp olive oil, vinegar and honey in a small bowl and mix to combine. Place 1 Tbsp lemon juice in a large salad bowl. Add apple slices and toss to coat with lemon juice. Add the wheat berries, kale, cabbage, almonds and roasted yams and Brussels sprouts. Sprinkle everything with salt and pepper, add the oil/vinegar mixture, and toss to combine. Taste salad and toss in a little more lemon juice, if desired, and then serve.
Eric’s options: The wheat berries can be cooked many hours in advance. Cool, cover and refrigerate until needed for the salad. Instead of wheat berries, try another grain in the salad, such as 1 1/2 cups of cooked, cold barley. Instead of almonds, try another nut in the salad, to taste, such as walnuts pieces, or coarsely chopped, skinned hazelnuts.
Quadra Cedar Hill Winter Salad Contest
If you’re 19 and over and live within the Quadra Cedar Hill Community Association area, you can enter your own winter salad recipe in a contest being held by the Quadra Cedar Hill Urban Farmers, an initiative of the Quadra Cedar Hill Community Association’s Climate Action Group.
That group meets monthly to talk about how, where and what to grow and, and at this time of year, what to do with all the winter kale, broccoli, cabbage, celeriac and other items they’ve grown in their gardens. Having a recipe contest was a tasty way to share some of those ideas with others in their community.
The recipe contest has a few rules, too many to list here. But you can see the rules, learn how to submit a recipe and find other information about the contest at the website, qchca.org. Once there, click on the Quadra Cedar Hill Urban Farmers link.
Entries for the contest must be received by midnight Feb. 10. Everyone who submits an eligible recipe will be entered into a random draw for one of two prizes. One is summer salad seeds and winter salad seeds from ALM Farm. The other is a $50 gift certificate from The Root Cellar, a great source for local produce. A number of recipes have already been entered into the contest and can be seen here: .
Eric Akis is the author of eight cookbooks. His columns appear in the Life section Wednesday and Sunday.
