BLT on wheat(berries)

Linds,

I know you must be missing warmer weather up there in the North Land, so I made this dish in honor of you! To me there was not a more summery food than a BLT sandwich with Miracle Whip when we were growing up.

As you know, I have an ABUNDANCE of wheat berries in my freezer, and out of my abundance there have come many, MANY new uses for wheat berries in the Kitchell household. Paul Dear likes to use them in the place of bulgur wheat and make tabbouleh. I have added them to my meatless loaf , and while this is delicious, that recipe was not one that needed the additional fiber boost. Let's just say on meatless loaf night, it is a good thing we finally have two bathrooms.

Anyway...

As I was saying, this recipe came to me last summer when I had not only an abundance of wheat berries but also an uncommon amount of tomatoes to use. I had been finding turkey bacon at the Dollar Tree and a little this, a little that, and one thing led to another. I now have a high fiber, high protein salad!

First of all, I really should have wiped down my counter first. Secondly, shouldn't I serve this with something orange?

I love cooking the wheat in the slow cooker overnight or while I'm at work. I use a 3:1 water:wheat berries ratio (with an extra half cup of water just because) and set the cooker at medium low overnight and medium-ish for work.

Now for your health Dear Sister, please do not eat wheat berries for three consecutive days; BUT do eat this salad at least once in your lifetime. I served it with a little ranch dressing so I would get that creamy mayo/Miracle Whip feel, but it would taste good with a balsamic vinegar and olive oil dressing too.

1 1/2- 2 cups mixed greens
1/2 cup cooked wheat berries
1/4-1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
2 slices turkey bacon
dressing of choice

Overall, this salad has 240 calories (without the dressing), 12 grams protein (!), 8 grams fiber, over 100% DRI for vitamin K and 25% of vitamin C. I could have bumped up the protein even more if I had a packet of ranch powder. I would have mixed it with my plain nonfat Greek yogurt and thinned it down a bit with some milk. Protein and calcium city!

The negatives I see with this salad are that it is high in sodium from the turkey bacon, and it is low in vitamin E because of the salad dressing choice. I'm still deciding if I would want to add a teaspoon of canola oil to my dressing. It would add 5% DRI vitamin E and help me absorb my vitamin K better.

It's decided! I will add this in the future!