Summer Harvest Salad with Chickpeas and Wheat Berries {vegan}

Make this hearty summer harvest salad your showcase for summer’s luscious vegetable bounty. With chickpeas and tender chewy wheat berries, dressed with lemon tahini sauce and a drizzle of colorful red chile dressing–here’s your new favorite main-course salad!

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Last summer I put together a version of this harvest salad featuring zucchini, green beans, eggplant, cucumber, beets and cherry tomatoes, all grown in our neighbors’ gardens. A couple of days later, I made a variation of the first, tossing chunks of grilled zucchini (ahem–it’s summer), plus ribbons of kale and cabbage into the protein-full chickpeas and wheat berry nuggets. So good.

For your harvest salad, choose whatever vegetables your big heart desires. Include bright colors like carrots, red cabbage and tomatoes. Be sure to add something green and leafy, like kale and lettuce. Grill or oven-roast some of your veggies, and keep others raw for fresh crunch.

In summer, grilling the vegetables makes sense–who wants to turn the oven on when it’s hot outside?

Show off your veggies, it doesn’t matter, in this summer harvest salad. Dress with a simple vinaigrette first, and then, if you have time, drizzle with tahini sauce and my bright guajillo dressing.

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Summer Harvest Salad with Chickpeas and Wheat Berries recipe details:

• Gluten-free?  Red rice (Affiliate link) is an excellent substitute for the wheat berries.
• To enjoy this summer harvest salad at its very best, prep all the ingredients beforehand and toss them together immediately before serving.
• Wheat berries, spelt berries and farro (Affiliate links) are interchangeable grains. The ancient cousins of wheat, spelt and farro are more digestible and many people with wheat intolerance can eat them.
• Cook up more wheat berries than you need. Kept frozen, they’re ready and waiting to add nutty texture to salads and soup.
• Canned chickpeas of course are the quick and easy. But if you have a pressure cooker or Instant Pot, cook your garbanzos from scratch, using dried beans.
• Inspiration for this recipe comes from a full-of-gusto veggie, chickpea and wheat berry salad I tasted at a food cart at Portland Oregon’s farmer’s market.

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Print Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Summer Harvest Salad with Chickpeas and Wheat Berries

Make this main-course salad with your choice of vegetables–what's on hand.

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Course: Main Course, Salad

Cuisine: Vegetarian

Keyword: main course salad, wheat berries

Servings: 10 servings.

Author: Letty | @lettyskitchen

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups cooked wheat berries , or spelt or farro (see note)
• 2 cans garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained and rinsed (about 3 cups)
• 5 to 7 cups prepared vegetables , according to your heart’s desire and what is available.

Veggie possibilities include:

• 1 medium zucchini , cut or sliced, then grilled
• 1 small eggplant , cut in 1-inch dice, then grilled
• 2 large handfuls of green beans , trimmed, grilled and cut in 1-inch pieces
• 1 cucumber , peeled, seeds removed and thinly sliced
• 2 green onions , the white and some of the green, chopped
• ¼ cup diced red onion
• 1 or 2 carrots , grated or cut in matchsticks
• 1 cup very thinly sliced red or green cabbage
• ½ bunch kale , any varietal, stems removed, chopped
• 1 beet , peeled and grated or cut in matchsticks
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes , cut in half
• Chopped lettuce greens , optional

For the dressings:

• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons fresh-squeezed lemon or lime juice
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• ½ cup Lemon Tahini Sauce , optional
• ¼ cup Guajillo Chile Dressing , optional

Instructions

• Mix the cooked wheat berries, chickpeas and prepared vegetables together in a bowl. Make a vinaigrette with the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Stir in basil pesto, if using. Add the vinaigrette to the bowl, tossing everything together with a spoon. Taste. Add salt and pepper as needed.
• If you are finishing with tahini sauce and guajillo dressing, drizzle them immediately before serving. I like to keep the sauce and dressing aside and let people drizzle as much as they wish.

Notes

• Red rice is an excellent gluten free substitute.
• Cook the wheat berries until tender, according to package directions.
• Wheat berries, spelt berries and farro are interchangeable here. 
• Before grilling or roasting the vegetables, toss with a bit of olive oil and salt and pepper.
• If you have pesto on hand, add its gusto to the oil and vinegar dressing.

Nutrition

Calories: 166kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 139mg | Potassium: 729mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 1391IU | Vitamin C: 20mg | Calcium: 45mg | Iron: 1mg

Did you make this recipe?Mention @lettyskitchen or tag #lettyskitchen

Nutrition information is meant to be an estimate only. The numbers will vary based on the quantity consumed and substitutions that are made. The optional tahini and guajillo chile dressings are not included in the nutrition calculations.