Hey hey. Hope you had a lovely Wednesday!

I stumbled upon a small farmers’ market today outside of Trader Joe’s, so naturally, I shopped around the local vendors before doing my weekly round-up at TJ’s. I was so happy to see that the local CSA farm, Grub, had golden beets. I snatched the last bunch to make the KERF Know Your Roots Salad – I heart beets! I also picked up a beautiful basket of strawberries and a few zucchini. Welcome, summer produce!

 

After soaking up some sun poolside, I decided to tackle the recipe in the peak of the afternoon heat; I wanted dinner to be ready and photographable a.s.a.p. after my evening workout at the WREC.

I cooked the wheatberries, roasted the veggies, thoroughly washed and dried the greens, and made the dressing… all in my bikini ;) It was a crazy idea, but entirely worth it!

I couldn’t wait to get home after my incredibly challenging workout (see below) to a 90%-prepped, wholesome meal that was ready in under 10 minutes.

I caught the last sight of daylight just in time for a photo shoot.

Roasted Root Vegetable Wheatberry Salad

recipe slightly modified from KERF

• 5 small golden beets + greens

• 2 medium sweet potatoes

• 1 T + 1 tsp. olive oil

• 1 tsp. cinnamon

• 1 c. dry wheatberries

• 1 T maple syrup

• 2 T apple cider vinegar

• 1 tsp. dijon mustard

• 2 cloves garlic

• sea salt + black pepper

• 2 T raw sunflower seeds

• chevre

1. Cut greens off beets – thoroughly wash and dry.
2. Peal beets and potatoes. Chop into in bite-sized pieces. Toss with 1 T olive oil and cinnamon. Roast @ 400F for ~45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Combine wheatberries with 2 cups water. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 45-60 minutes until tender.
4. Sauté beet greens in 1 tsp olive oil and sprinkle of salt.
5. Combine beets, sweet potato, wheatberries, greens and sunflower seeds in a bowl.
6. Combine maple syrup, vinegar, mustard, garlic, salt and pepper in a jar. Shake to combine.
7. Pour over salad and toss gently. Garnish with chevre. Serve warm or cold.

Serves 4.

 

Oh, boy – a winner of a dinner indeed! I savored every chewy, sweet, tangy, creamy, nutritious bite. The beet greens were a bit tough (you could substitute any other dark, leafy green), but the flavor of the roasted veggies and apple cider vinaigrette had all of my attention.

How do you like to eat wheatberries?

Wednesday’s Workout

• 4 min. jump-rope
• 60-minute cycle class

It was ridiculous! Think Bikram heat + vigorous spinning. My roommate and I can’t stop talking about how intense it was. After the final two songs, I felt like I had just sprinted across the finish line of a race – whew!

• 1 mi. indoor track run
• 100 walking lunges
• 10 minutes abs + arms

Stay cool, stay healthy. See ya tomorrow!

Hillary