Wheat Berry “Risotto”
The quotation marks are there because you won’t really get the creamy, wonderful texture from wheat berries that you get from medium-grain risotto rice. But with a few simple tricks, you can come mighty close. The timing is part of the fun of making this dish. Start the wheat berries, which take about 30 minutes to cook, and see if you can get the other veggies cut up and sauteed by the time the berries are ready.
Makes 2 generous servings (leftovers are great at room temperature)
Sea salt
1/2 cup wheat berries
6 sun-dried tomato halves, diced fine (if they give you a hard time, soak them in warm water for 10 minutes or so, then chop)
1 small red or yellow onion, diced fine
1 stalk celery, diced fine
1 medium carrot, diced fine
8 medium portobello mushrooms, sliced thin
1 tablespoon olive oil
1-1/2 cups home made chicken broth or reduced sodium organic chicken or vegetable broth
3 cups greens–kale, Swiss chard, collards or whatever you have on hand
1/2 cup or so leftover green vegetables, like peas, diced zucchini or asparagus (optional)
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Freshly ground pepper
Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the wheat berries and bring the water back to a boil. Reduce the heat so it is simmering. Cook until the berries are tender-chewy, about 30 minutes. Drop the sun-dried tomato halves into the wheat berry pot after about 15 minutes of cooking.
Do all your vegetable prep while the berries are cooking.If you finish your prep before the wheat berries are done cooking, go ahead and start cooking the veggies as described in the next step.
Drain the wheat berries/dried tomatoes and let them hang out. Heat the olive oil in a large pan–cast iron or non-stick is nice–over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, carrot and mushrooms and cook, stirring often, until the veggies are wilted and just starting to brown, about 15 minutes. Add the wheat berry/tomatoes and the broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a sturdy simmer and cook without a cover for 10 minutes, or until the broth is about half gone.
Stir in the greens and keep simmering until the greens are tender and there is only a little bit of liquid left–just enough to coat the veggies/berries. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the butter and cheese. Season with salt and pepper.
A few notes:
– Substitute just about any slow-cooking vegetables for the onion, celery, carrot and mushrooms listed above. As long as you end up with 1 1/2 to 2 cups diced vegetables you’ll be fine. Think parsnip, leek, other types of mushrooms, beets.
-Home made chicken broth will give you the creamiest, most-polenta-like finished dish. If using store bought broth, the butter and cheese added at the end will offer some creaminess.