Author Notes
For some reason I wound up with jars of wheat berries in my freezer and needed to clear them out for other things. Wanting to use them for something other than breakfast cereal or salad additions I searched around and, inspired by our own wonderful thirschfeld's creamy porridge, I combined ideas from several other sites and came up with a great "stand alone" side for simple chicken or pork...or an altogether great and highly adaptable veggie main dish. The proof of the "porridge" is that my dear mother-in-law called me the day after I had served this to say, once again, how much she loved this dish...and that her leftovers were even better than the night before. Does it get better than that?? —Pat E. in SLO
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Ingredients
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1.5 cups
Wheat berries..hard or soft
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1 cup
diced onions
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4
cloves diced garlic
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2 tablespoons
butter
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2 tablespoons
olive oil
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1 cup
heavy cream...maybe a little more
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1 handful
shredded parmesean
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2 cups
lightly steamed broccoli, or other wonderful veggie...squash, cauliflower, etc.
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a grind of fresh nutmeg
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1 cup
toasted pecans/walnuts/almonds...whatever you have
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1 shot
lemon juice
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Kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, and chopped parsley to taste
Directions
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Cook the wheat berries however you like. I cover with lots of water and boil for at least 60 minutes or until tender...but there are lots of ways to do this. Drain.
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Saute onions in butter and EVOO in a large skillet until soft but not brown. Add garlic and cook until fragrant. lovely!
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Add cooked weat berries to the skillet Saute briefly. Add cream, nutmeg, and S&P to taste. Add some water, wine, or chicken broth if it seems too dry. Cook a bit to blend the flavors.
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Add steamed broccoli and parmesean. Melt a bit together and the add toasted nuts. Adjust S&P as needed...a tad more parm if it looks bare and serve up quickly as a lovely main or side. If a lemon is handy, squeeze over the top and sprinkle with some chopped parsley and it will brighten things up even more. :-)
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