Wheat berries are a versatile food that you can use as a base or topping for just about anything. I have only recently discovered them through blog reading, but I just can’t get enough. They offer a chewiness and heartiness to satisfy my appetite.
So let’s start with the basics…
What are wheat berries?
Wheat berries are entire wheat kernels (minus the inedible hull). They are comprised of the bran, germ, and endosperm. For a diagram, see here. In the most literal sense, they are a whole grain! This means all the good nutrients that are inherent to wheat are still there when you eat it. The different types of wheat berries are named based on the gluten content, color, and/or growing season.
- hard red spring and hard red winter-high in protein and brownish in color, often used to make bread flour
- hard white-tan color, often also used in breads and brewing
- soft white-tan color, softer kernel, often used to make pastry flour
Soft white wheat berries are what you’ve seen me use for blog recipes thus far. I only bought soft white because I knew nothing about wheat berries when I purchased them a few months ago. I just picked up the first bag of wheat berries I saw. These soft white wheat berries from Bob’s Red Mill are delightful. I certainly will buy them again, but I also hope to try the red sometime.
So without further ado, my breakfast!
Layers of:
- banana slices
- low-fat Stonyfield French vanilla yogurt
- soft white wheat berries
- natural Jif peanut butter
I let the layers sit overnight so they could mesh together.
I had to steal one bite before it went in the fridge last night. This one bite had me dreaming of this breakfast all night long. Then it was the first thing I thought of when my eyes opened this morning. I’m not too sure what this says though, because food is always the first thing I think of in the morning. What can I say; my metabolism is working!
It did not disappoint. I just can’t get over the chew. Then you add creamy and peanut butteriness. To say the least, I’ll be eating this again.
And so you can start to dig into wheat berries (if you haven’t already), one more factoid:
How do you prepare wheat berries?
I’ve read mixed instructions about needing to soak the wheat berries before cooking them. I’ve seen soaking for 6-8 hours and then simmering for one hour. However, the Bob’s Red Mill instructions do not include the soaking, and they still only take one hour of simmering. For me it’s a no brainer to save yourself a step and do not soak them.
Combine one part wheat berries to roughly 4 parts water. Bring it to a rolling boil and then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for one hour. Because I don’t like to measure I estimated the wheat berry and water proportions and then it’s no trouble to drain the extra water off when the hour was done. The wheat berries can then be served hot or cold.
Stay tuned for more on wheat berries including: their benefits, adding them to your diet, and more recipes.
Do you already eat wheat berries? Or do you think you might add them to your diet now?
Spoonful Of Sass 