A healthy, full-flavored side dish that will sell you on an undersung grain.
Ingredients
Makes 6 servings
Step 1
Combine wheat berries, 1 onion half, thyme sprigs, and 1 tablespoon salt in a large saucepan; add water to cover by 2". Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium and simmer until wheat berries are just tender but still firm to the bite, about 35 minutes. Drain; discard onion and thyme. Place wheat berries in a large bowl; let cool.
Step 2
Cut remaining 3 onion halves crosswise into 1/2" slices. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large cast-iron or other heavy skillet over medium-high heat; add onions. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are charred in spots, about 5 minutes. Transfer to bowl with wheat berries. Add 1 tablespoon oil to same skillet. Working in 3 batches, add kale and cook, tossing occasionally, sprinkling with salt and pepper, and adding oil as needed between batches, until charred in spots, about 1 minute per batch. Add to bowl. Drizzle with lemon juice and any remaining oil; toss to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
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Reviews (12)
Back to TopIt sounds really tasty. I think I'll add a TSP of garlic paste and a quarter of a cup of dried onions to the wheat water to increase the flavour. Looking forward to lunch!!
alsado9988
Federal Way Wa
1/17/2018
Doubled it. Cooked einkorn wheat in the fancy rice cooker on the brown rice setting with two halfs of an onion and a small handful of fresh thyme. Can't say as it flavored the wheat much. Put quartered shallots in oil on the grill, then chopped and finished them in olive oil. That's as much oil as I added. Charred lacinato kale on the grill then chopped it. Added a small amount of fresh herbs - thyme, sage, oregano. Chopped a whole super ripe tomato. Salted it with liquid aminos (basically soy sauce.) Everyone loved it.
gregpnw
Portland, OR
4/24/2016
Doubled it. Cooked einkorn wheat in the fancy rice cooker on the brown rice setting with two halfs of an onion and a small handful of fresh thyme. Can't say as it flavored the wheat much. Put quartered shallots in oil on the grill, then chopped and finished them in olive oil. That's as much oil as I added. Charred lacinato kale on the grill then chopped it. Added a small amount of fresh herbs - thyme, sage, oregano. Chopped a whole super ripe tomato. Salted it with liquid aminos (basically soy sauce.) Everyone loved it.
gregpnw
Portland, OR
4/24/2016
I made this according to the recipe, but with about half the oil (it seemed oily enough with this amount). I found it a little bland (more lemon juice might help) and the taste of "burnt" was not to my tastes. Caramelized onions and simple sauteed kale (not charred or seared) may improve it.
kariparsons
2/12/2014
As written, I'll give this a 3 fork because it was a little bland to my taste buds. But I like spicy and acidic. I made as directed, then added a couple of tablespoons of seasoned rice vinegar and may 1/8 tsp of cayenne pepper. I tasted the wheat berries after they'd been cooked with the thyme and onion and they were already gooooooood; so could be a side on their own, or with a some more veggies or even nuts added. Will definitely make again!
dormanesq
San Francisco, CA
9/24/2013
我写这个食谱。我真的很喜欢flavor the charred onions added. I didn't have a lemon so I added rice vinegar. I thought it needed way more than just 1 T. Maybe with the lemon juice it would be different. I loved the kale cooked in this manner. Not sauted, but charred in the cast iron.
pagesinthesun
1/22/2013
Followed the recipe exactly. I love different ways of cooking kale and less common grains, but I wasn't expecting this recipe to be as flavorful as it actually is. Cooking the wheatberries with the onion, thyme, and salt imparts a wonderful flavor, and I'm thinking of doing this with other grains. Next time I might reduce the salt when cooking the wheatberries, just to see how much of a difference it makes. The charred kale is tasty. Charred onions always win in my book. The lemon at the end really pulls it all together and brightens the flavor.
Anonymous
10/31/2012
Love how no one reviewed this recipe specifically. Everything written about this was a modified version. I would enjoy seeing what someone has to say after having made this dish as the recipe calls.
Anonymous
9/26/2012
Great basic recipe to play with. I had a fridge full of veggies I had to use before going on vacation. I love the crunchy nuttiness of wheat berries. I cooked them as the recipe directed and they came out great. I roasted 5 veggies: eggplant, summer squash, baby potatoes, sweet yellow peppers and an unidentified striped squash. I added 2 kinds of cheese: asiago and feta, braised the kale with garlic chives. Later I threw in arugula, curly lettuce and radishes. WOW! Raise a glass for crunchy summer goodness. I'll be making this through the Fall. :-)
jfong
Oakland, CA
8/16/2012
This was very tasty, liked by all who tried it. I cut the olive oil in half for caloric reasons and it still tasted good. My only complaint is the wheat berries took way much longer to cook than the recipe stated...I left them cooking for 90 minutes and they still were a bit too crunchy at that point. I used a brand new package of them too. Maybe they were sitting on the shelf at the store a long time? Never having cooked wheat berries before I'm not sure what happened. I will make again but allow much longer time to cook before planning to serve.
Anonymous
sarasota, fl
7/11/2012
Couldnt find the wheat berries in my pantry so used 1 cup barley and treated it the same way and cooked redquinoa and added to the cooked barley. Added a cute little yellow patty pan squash, cut in wedges to the frying onions, added spice mixture (ras el hanut but curry or other mixtures could be used.) Otherwise kept to the recipe and loved it. With the quinoa adding protein we used it as the main coarse. yum.
bustan79
Richmond, VA
7/1/2012
Easy and delicious! Substituted quinoa for the wheat berries.
Tenright
Washington, DC
6/2/2012
