A case of the Lazies and Wheat Berry & Chickpea Salad

wow, do I ever have a case of the lazies ... No running, no workingout!!
This is terrible!! I need to snap out of it fast. 
Tomorrow is a new week and I'm planing on starting to ease myself back into running, perhaps a 4min run/1min walk for 30minutes and 30minutes on the bike. I will take it from there and see how my shin/calf holds up. 
This weekend we did manage to do some cleaning, laundry, some shopping for pants since the kids are growing like weed and all their pants look like they are crossing a flood.
There was also some cooking with some NEW to me Products. 
My Friends all complain that since I took up running there has been very little baking and cooking because I'm always busy with running, meals tend to be quick and easy... and there has been no baking. So this weekend I decided to cook up something different. 


New to me: Wheat Berry 

I did a little research on this grain and found some interesting information;

• Wheat Berry is the whole unprocessed wheat kernel, which means none of the germ or bran has been removed, and so it is nutritionally intact. This grain is a very good source of fiber, keeps the digestive system healthy, helps to lower cholesterol and promotes bowel regularity. In addition, it contains a wide array of nutrients that may help to reduce risks of cardiovascular diseases, obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

• Because it is unprocessed, wheat berry does take some time to cook before it softens up. To prepare: bring 4 quarts of water in a large pot to boil. Add Wheat Berry with 1/2 teaspoon of salt for every 1 cup of wheat berries. Partially cover and let simmer, stirring often for about 1 hour until the grains are tender but still chewy (I would try a few kernels to see if it's the right for you)  Drain and rinse with cold water. 1 cup uncooked wheat berries will yield 2.5 cups cooked.

I looked around for a couple of recipes where I could use Wheat Berry. I saw some were it was used instead of Oatmeal but decided that Salad was the way to go. 
After comparing a couple of recipes I came up with a mish mash, which turned out quite tasty I might say.

Wheat Berry and Chickpea Salad

Salad;

1 cup of Organic Wheat Berry

1 (14 ounce) can of Organic Chickpeas, drained and rinsed 

1/2 cup of roasted red peppers, drained, patted dry and chopped 

1/2 cup of Light Feta Cheese, crumbled 

Salt and pepper to taste 

Dressing; 

1 cup of freshly squeezed Orange juice (about 2 oranges) 

2 tablespoons of Lemon juice 

1 tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil 

2 teaspoons of Honey 

2 cloves of garlic minced

1/4 teaspoon of salt 

1/4 teaspoon of Paprika

1. Cook Wheat Berries according to above directions. Transfer the wheat berry to a large bowl and set aside. 
2. For the Dressing; bring the orange juice to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat, cook until the juice is syrup and reduced to 1/3 cup, 15minutes. 
3. Transfer the orange syrup to a bowl and refrigerate until cool, about 10 minutes. Once cool whisk in the Lemon juice, EVOO, Honey, Garlic, salt, paprika and set aside.
4. To Assemble the salad; stir the chickpeas, roasted red peppers, Feta Cheese and the dressing into the bowl with the wheat berries, season with Salt and Pepper. *** I only used about 1/2 of the dressing, because I don't like a lot of dressing on my salad.  

 Serve on a bed of greens; like mixed greens or Baby Romaine or Baby Arugula.

 
LOVE this combination of the chickpeas and the Wheat Berries... the berries add a nice earth crunchy texture to the Salad, it also makes it very filling. You could easily use a simple EVOO and Lemon juice as a dressing for this salad and it would be great too. enjoy!!