Berry Buckwheat?! What???? Yep, another new thing for us to learn about! The name is bit deceiving-buckwheat is not a grain or wheat! It’s actually a seed! It’s similar to amaranth, millet, or quinoa (which are also seeds that get mis-identified as grains). Buckwheat contains protein, fiber, iron, magnesium, and calcium. It can help prevent heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Buckwheat is full of antioxidants too! Also, it can grow in cold climates, making it ideal to grow in the Midwest! The seeds are referred to as buckwheat groats, which is how we found them labeled at Whole Foods! Lastly, it’s gluten free!! (information from thehealthy.com)
So let’s get started on this fancy salad! In addition to the buckwheat, we will need some baby greens (I opted for a spinach/arugula mix), a can of white beans (I went with butter beans because those were the only canned beans we had on hand and I hadn’t pre-soaked any dry beans), blueberries, strawberries, radishes, avocado, pecans, basil leaves, an orange, orange juice, and white balsamic vinegar.
To start, you’ll need to cook the buckwheat. Note that buckwheat is very messy. The pot kept boiling over and it’s sticky! Took me forever with a scrubbie to clean our stove.
While your buckwheat is cooking, add the baby greens, white beans, blueberries, strawberries, radishes, orange slices, and avocado to a bowl. I struggle with avocado. I either buy them too ripe or not ripe enough. This time, Whole Foods actually had them labeled “Ready to use now” and “Wait a few days” and I still didn’t get it right! My avocado was not ripe enough to use. I was disappointed.
Next, the dressing. This might be the simplest dressing I’ve ever made. Pour orange juice in a bowl. Add some white balsamic vinegar. Whisk it together. Top the salad mix in the bowl, top with some toasted pecans and basil leaves and you are ready to enjoy this salad!
