I have been working really hard at eating a more plant based diet. Heart health has become a priority for me, so finding the best possible foods that are without saturated fats has been very important. The other side of that is finding something truly delicious to look forward to eating. This salad has it all!! It’s got lots of delicious plants, beautiful color and is great to serve to a large gathering.

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Heart Healthy Grain Salad

Ingredients:

romaine lettuce, chopped

grape or cherry tomatoes

avocado, diced

carrots, chopped

olives

asparagus, chopped

green beans, chopped

pumpkin seeds, roasted

wheat berries* (cooked whole kernels of wheat)

green onion, chopped

Directions:

Most of the vegetables in this salad are served raw, but we are going to blanch the asparagus and green beans. To blanch the vegetables, bring a pot of water to boil with a tsp or so of salt. While the water is coming to a boil, fill a large bowl with water and ice. Set to the side.

Once the water is boiling, put the asparagus and green beans into the boiling water. You are only going to get them cook for 2-3 minutes. You want them just a little tender and to keep their bright green color. Immediately strain water out of the asparagus and green beans out of the pot. Put the vegetables into the bowl of ice water to cool.

Now all you have to do is assemble your salad!! Toss it all together and serve with your favorite vinaigrette. Our favorite to serve with this salad is Briana’s Blush Wine Vinaigrette.

*How to cook Wheat Berries:

Easiest way is in the instant pot. Put 1 cup of wheat berries to 2 cups of water into the instant pot. Process on high for 20 minutes and let it naturally release. I usually make a bigger batch of wheat berries at the beginning of the week to throw into soups or salad and even to eat as a hot breakfast cereal in the mornings.

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If you’d like to learn more about plant based eating, listen to this podcast we did with Ali Essig: Plant Based Eating: the What's, the Why's & the How's (Episode #170) with Ali Essig. Ali explains it all so well and makes it feel DOABLE!!