Ancient Grains Salad

Looking for summer salad ideas for cookouts, barbecues and picnics? Ancient Grains salad with its easy vinaigrette recipe is loaded with vegetables and the Pharaohs Grain, Kamut – an ancient grain with more protein, amino acids, vitamins and many minerals, especially selenium, zinc and magnesium than modern wheat – Kamut salad is chewy, nutty and toothsome.

During the summer months, I shift from my standard repertoire of hot main courses to a mix of light, flavorful salads and grains.  Sometimes we’ll grill a piece of chicken or a pork tenderloin to serve with these flavorful dishes, but invariably our summer will consist of cold drinks, easy cooking and tons of healthy summer salad ideas, like this Ancient Grains Salad made with kamut.

What Is Kamut?

According to Food Republic,  Kamut, also known as Khorasan Wheat or Pharoah’s Grain is a chewy, nutty wheat grain with a toothsome texture with  30% more protein than wheat  and more amino acids. And some people who can’t tolerate wheat, don’t have a problem with Kamut. Bonus.

They call it Pharaohs Grain because it was discovered in some of Egyptian Pharaohs tombs, ergo, this Kamut salad is food fit for a king… right?

Don’t worry if you can’t find Kamut in your local supermarket.  I’ve included a {shameless} affiliate link  so you can get your own.

Kamut takes a little longer to cook than your standard rice or other grains and it does better when soaked overnight, though you can skip the long soak and just cook it for 20 more minutes or so. I chose the soak method and while the Kamut was cooking I made an easy vinaigrette recipe with lemon, dijon mustard, garlic and olive oil.

Whisk the vinaigrette until it’s emulsified and set aside.  Then start prepping the vegetables.

A few radishes give a peppery bite to this salad, slice them thin so that beautiful magenta ring is showcased.

Thinly sliced red onion and fresh grape tomatoes (especially in a variety of colors) give this Ancient Grains salad another pop of color.

Thinly sliced green onions and thawed frozen peas add more shades of the rainbow — in fact, I think the only color not represented is blue.

Dress the warm Kamut with the lemon vinaigrette and toss to coat completely.

Then add the Kamut into the vegetables and toss again.  Fresh mini mozzarella balls or Ciliegine along with mint and basil add bright flavors to the whole dish.  Kamut salad can be served at room temperature or chilled and because the Kamut grains are so hearty, it can easily be made even a day ahead of time, but wait to add the herbs until just before serving so they stay fresh and vibrant.

Ancient Grains salad is good all on its own as a hearty vegetarian side dish or if you want to make it vegan, just skip the mozzarella cheese.  I know some of you look at this salad and say “side dish” — that’s fine too and it would be perfect with this grilled lamb kebabs,  these swordfish kebabs or make this pork chop brine to soak some pork chops in and grill them.

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