two-berry salad

Left to my own devices, my cooking is "okay." Occasionally I wander into "good" territory. Last night's creation was somewhere in between.

I combined wheat berries - whole wheat grains rich in protein, fiber, and manganese - with cranberries and baby spinach to make a hearty salad. The wheat berries themselves were delicious -- tender with a slightly nutty flavor. These would be a great base for a number of recipes. But the cranberries got lost. I think a few drops of agave nectar tossed with the cranberries before they went into the pan would have brought out the sweet-tart pop I was hoping for.

Here's the recipe as I made it:

-1 cup uncooked wheat berries
-large handful of cranberries, coarsely chopped
-2 or 3 handfuls of baby spinach, coarsely chopped (I like to use baby spinach, rather than grown-up spinach, because the stems are still tender and don't have to be cut off before cooking.)
-2 tablespoons organic unfiltered extra virgin olive oil
-sea salt and ground black pepper to taste

Soak the wheat berries for a couple hours in a bowl of water to cut down on cooking time. Rinse and drain them, then add them to a large sauce pan with three cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 45 minutes or more, until the wheat berries are soft enough to chew and eat.

While the weat berries are cooking, heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat and add the chopped cranberries. Cook until cranberries are tender, about 5 minutes, then set aside so you can reuse the pan. Heat the spinach over a medium-low flame in whatever oil is left in the pan until it wilts and reduces to about 1/4 of its original volume.

Drain wheat berries and put them in a large bowl. Add the cranberries and spinach and toss, then season with salt and pepper to taste. Serves 2.