Wheat Berries and Roasted Root Vegetables

If this isn't cold weather comfort food, nothing is.

First, let me expound on my love for the wheat berry.

I mustered the courage to try cooking these babies after reading about them on 101 Cookbooks. Heidi Swanson is my hero. Her recipes are always beautiful, always wholesome, and usually pretty easy.

Wheat berries are a slow-cooking grain. The texture, taste, and nutritional value in these little gems make them worth the wait. As with beans, you can soak them in water overnight to reduce the cooking time. Or you can just rinse them and boil them in water for about an hour. They're finished when they plump up and retain a chewy texture. This is a versatile base for salads, pilafs, and even hot breakfast cereal.

So, while the wheat berries are boiling away, peel and cut whatever root vegetables you happen to have lying around. Winter is the time for these hearty standbys: carrots, parsnips, potatoes, turnips, onions, fennel, squash, celery root, beets, what have you. Cut them into one to two-inch pieces, and try to keep them all about the same so they cook evenly. Put the prepared vegetables in a large bowl and toss with olive oil to coat, sea salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, lots of finely chopped garlic, and/or oregano. Spread them on a large baking sheet with a lip to catch the juices. Roast at 400 degrees for about twenty minutes, turning them once in a while. The sugars in the carrots and parsnips will caramelize and the olive oil will make them a little crispy on the outside.

Drain the wheat berries and toss it all together. Make sure to scrape all the juices from the vegetable pan into the mixture--this adds a lot of flavor. Maybe a little cheese on top. Whatever. It's good.