Fiesta Wheat and Bean Salad/Salsa

I don't know about you, but I'm really not that interested in baking breads all the time using my wheat.  I just don't have the hours to put into it and I find that there are breads out there I can buy already made that are lower in calories and fat thus making my homemade whole wheat bread less desireable.  BUT, I still want to use my wheat from my foodstorage AND enjoy it AND teach my kids about the wide variety of healthy foods out there.  Which is why this book has become one of my absolute favorites!  It really has taught me so many ways to start "thinking outside the box" in regards to my foodstorage usage and I will be forever grateful.

So for this post, I want to introduce you to this book, "I Dare You to Eat It" by Liesa Card since it also contains one of our FAVORITE family recipes. 

My kids GOBBLE up this salad/salsa, literally.  They'll sit for a long time just enjoying this "salad" while I sit back and enjoy knowing all the good healthy food they're eating.  They don't even notice all the peppers and spend time picking them out like they do in ALL other recipes...that in itself is AMAZING! 

So I MUST share!

First you have to start with cooked wheat berries **See NOTE at the end.  Here's the recipe (pulled directly from the site):
4 c. raw whole wheat
10 c. water
1 T. salt
Oil a large (4 quart or larger) slow cooker and fill with wheat, water, and salt. Cover and cook on low all night, 8-10 hours. Cooked wheat may be bagged and stored in the refrigerator for at least a week or in the freezer for months.  A sandwich bag will hold 2 cups.

Once you have a small supply of cooked wheat berries prepared, try experimenting with adding a cup to your favorite soups, chicken salads, or casseroles. When combined with regular white rice it makes a very simple—but healthy—pilaf.   I've been adding these wheat berries to EVERYTHING.  We enjoy them most in taco meat.  They hardly notice the difference and I can save so much money using 1/2 wheat 1/2 meat.  It's GREAT!

Now for the salad Recipe and my #1 way I LOVE to use my wheat.

Fresh Ingredients
1 orange or red pepper, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 small red onion, diced
1 bunch fresh cilantro, leaves chopped
1 small jalapeno pepper, cored and diced
juice of 1 lime

Storage Ingredients

3 c. cooked wheat berries
1 can corn, drained (16 oz.)
1 can black beans, drained (15 oz.)
2 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 c. cider vinegar
1 T. sugar
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 tsp. salt

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and toss well. Chill for at least 1 hour before serving.


Message directly from the Author, Liesa Card:

"Here it is friends. This is my all time, best, #1, very favorite way to use the wheat from my long-term storage. Whenever I give food storage presentations I always suggest/beg/insist that this salsa be served with chips. Experience has proven that even non-believers are converted once they taste wheat prepared this way."

I'm a convert and proud of it!  I hope you'll join me in the near future, too...

Here's to healthy provident living in 2010!

Happy New Year!

***NOTE: You can't actually buy the wheat berries, you have to cook the dried/raw wheat grains to make them into the wheat berries. A lot of places carry the wheat grains. Maceys, Harmons, Walmart, Costco, Sams, etc. You just need to look in the food storage section of their stores (baking at costco/sams). The problem with these places is they usually sell the big 25-50 lb buckets. If you're not sure if you're going to like the wheat berries, you will want to get a #10 can first. You can get the cans from any LDS Dry Pack Cannery. You will just want to call ahead to see if they have any extra single cans for purchase (they usually do). Anyone can go in there and purchase a single can and/or use the machines to pack your own food storage items.
This link shows the single-can prices.
This link shows locations in UT.