Whole Grain Salad with Roasted Corn is your new go-to summer dish. It's healthy and full of fiber, make ahead friendly and tastes great!
Today I bring you a salad recipe. A grain salad recipe.
This salad can easily replace the mayo-laden pasta and potato salads that often accompany summer picnics and cookouts and I promise, everyone will prefer this fiber-filled version. Today I bring you Whole Grain Salad with Roasted Corn and Edamame.
Recently, I made this salad to finish off a bunch of almost empty bags of different dried grains hanging around in my pantry as well as frozen corn and edamame.
I didn't even make it for a specific meal - I made it just because and also that I might bring it to a picnic later (Spoiler Alert: I didn't - I ate it all).
It was definitely Love at First Taste for me, my husband, and the baby. Not the picky preschooler though, but she pretty much subsists on toast with peanut butter, so that's not saying much.
The recipe made a huge bowl, and it did take a couple of days to finish it. I was eating this salad two meals a day for a couple of days - even for breakfast at least once!
I then proceeded to make it again a few days later to bring to a camping potluck, and everyone there loved it too!
How to make Whole Grain Salad:
This salad is fairly easy to make, once the grains are cooked. The downside is that cooking whole grains can take a long time. And since the grains all require different cooking times, they need to be cooked separately.
The first time I made this salad, I used a wild rice blend and some pearled barley. I cooked the wild rice in my rice cooker with minimal effort, but the barley needed to be soaked and simmered for quite some time.
The second time I used wheat berries, which took even longer! Keep this in mind when you want to make this salad.
It may be best to make it ahead of time. It's just as good, if not better if it sits in the fridge overnight because it allows the flavors from the dressing to really soak into all the grains. Yum!
Want more Whole Grain recipes?
Whole Grain Salad with Roasted Corn and Edamame Nutrition Notes
The nutrition info in the recipe below is for a generously sized entree portion.
The salad is high in fiber, low in saturated fat, and includes no added sugar.
To make the salad gluten-free, you could use a mixture of quinoa, wild rice, and brown rice.
Whole Grain Salad with Roasted Corn and Edamame
Ingredients
Salad
- 1 cup wild rice mix (I used Lundberg Wild Blend)
- ½ cup pearled barley (see note)
- 1 ½ cups frozen corn kernals, thawed
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 ½ cups frozen shelled edamame, thawed
- 1 small red onion, minced, (½ medium)
- 1 cup fresh mint leaves, coarsely chopped or torn
Dressing
- 1 ½ teaspoons lemon juice
- 2 Tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¾ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ cup olive oil
Instructions
- Cook wild rice mix and barley separately according to instructions on package. Set aside to cool.
- While grains are cooking, heat oven to 400°F. Toss corn with 1 Tablespoon olive oil, ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon smoked paprika. Spread corn on a baking sheet and roast until golden brown, about 10-15 minutes, stirring every few minutes. Cool slightly.
- Add cooked grains, roasted corn, edamame, red onion and mint to a large bowl. Toss to combine.
- Whisk together lemon juice, white wine vinegar, salt and smoked paprika. Continue whisking vigorously while slowly drizzling in the olive oil. Toss dressing with salad to coat. Serve or cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
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