Harvest Grains Salad

Want to try a delicious, healthy, satisfying (in that order!) meal? Perfect for a picnic? Perfect for leftovers? Step right up and take a look at my Trader Joe’s Harvest Grains salad.

Trader Joe’s Harvest Grains blend contains Israeli style couscous, orzo, baby garbanzo and quinoa. The one-pound bag contains enough grains to make two giant batches. So enough deliciousness to share twice.

My first try was a big salad to share at a picnic. We all loved it.

Here is a pic of my plate which also included Denisse’s famous broccoli salad. Oh. And a giant slice of her homemade sourdough!

The grain salad pretty much stands on its own, but I did bring a cooked and shredded chicken breast to top it off for extra protein. The other toppings I didn’t stir into the salad were pine nuts and diced red onion.

Using microgreens instead of lettuce gave it flavor, fiber, nutrition and they hold up extremely well when dressed overnight.

This is a good make-ahead salad to give the flavors a chance to meld with the vinaigrette overnight. But the second batch I made, I ate day of and it was good too!

Here’s what I did:

Print Recipe

Harvest Grains Salad

A delicious, healthy and satisfying salad

Course: Salad

Cuisine: American

Ingredients

• ½ pound Trader Joe's Harvest Grains
• ½ diced red pepper
• ¼ cup diced Kalamata olives
• ½-1 cup microgreens I used sunflower and radish microgreens
• ¼ pine nuts I used as a topping
• 1 cooked, shredded chicken breast I used for an optional topping and did not mix into the salad
• ⅓ cup diced red onion optional or for topping to taste
• ½ cup sliced cherry tomatoes

Vinaigrette

• ¼ cup olive oil
• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp water
• 1 splash lemon juice
• salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

• Cook grains according to instructions on package. Let cool.
• Add all ingredients except for those that are optional or to be used as toppings.
• Toss with dressing.
• Cover and refrigerate for a few hours or until the next day.
• Enjoy!

Wrap Up

It’s so easy to modify adding or subtracting ingredients to your taste. Or whatever you have in the fridge!

If early spring weather has you hankerin’ for salad meals, this is a good one.