A healthy salad to get your diet back on track

Who says you have to wait until January 1st to get your healthy eating back on track? This is my go-to healthy salad “secret weapon” that I make whenever I need a nutritional boost. Not only is it one of the most popular salad recipes on my blog, Oh She Glows, but it’s a personal favourite of mine as well.

This salad is light, while providing long-lasting energy to get through the busy holiday season. I like to whip up a batch and enjoy effortless healthy lunches throughout the holidays. It also makes a lovely side dish for a holiday lunch or dinner. My mother-in-law served this as a side dish last year and everyone, including the meat eaters, raved about it.

Back on track salad

Has your diet been all over the place this holiday season? Get back on track with this healthy and filling protein-packed salad that will have you energized in no time. The wheatberries give this salad a great chewy texture; they can be found in bulk-food stores such as Bulk Barn. If you don’t want to use wheatberries you can probably substitute brown rice, but you may need to use a bit more dressing.

Yield: 7.5-8 cups

Salad ingredients:
1 cup dry wheatberries, cooked and drained
One (15-oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (about 2 cups)
1 English cucumber, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 large tomato, diced
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 cup fresh parsley, diced with large stems removed
4 green onions, diced
Kosher salt + pepper, to taste
 
Dressing ingredients:
2-4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, to taste (I used 2 tbsp)
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp regular or hot mustard
1 tbsp Tamari
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
 
Directions:
1. In a medium bowl, soak the wheatberries overnight in cold water. The next day, drain the wheatberries and place in a medium sized pot, covered in 3 inches of water. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium and simmer for 1 hour. Drain and cool.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the diced vegetables (cucumber, red pepper, tomato, minced garlic, parsley, green onions). Add in cooked and drained chickpeas and stir.

3. In a small bowl whisk together the dressing ingredients (olive oil, balsamic vinegar, mustard, Tamari, fresh lemon juice). Set aside.

4. When the wheatberries are ready, drain and rinse and then stir into the salad. Add the dressing just before serving and stir well. Season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Garnish with additional parsley if desired.

Angela Liddon is the creator of Oh She Glows — a popular healthy vegan recipe website receiving over 1.6 million page views a month — and one of Chatelaine's Women of the Year 2011. Angela’s passion for healthy vegan food is contagious and she’s eager to show others that vegan (and often gluten-free) food can blow your taste buds away.