Soups and casseroles may rule Canadian dinner tables as the months get colder, but there is something to be appreciated about warm salads. Roast some veggies, add a hearty grain and cheese, and you’ve got a flavourful dinner that uses up odds and ends left in the fridge or an easy meal-prep solution.
But don’t just limit yourself to quinoa. Here are 5 alternate healthy salad grains to keep on hand for easy, healthy dinners.
Farro
This nutty grain is perfect to pair with roasted kale or stone fruits. It’s a little chewy and doesn’t absorb too much dressing, making it a good salad grain to batch prep and eat throughout the week.
High in fibre, this grain is easy to cook and can used in soups, veggie patties, and more.
I love it in warm salads, like a grilled peach and goat cheese salad, or with craisins and butternut squash.
Couscous
Couscous is a great grain that comes in a variety of sizes. I try to pick a variety that, texture-wise, will complement the other ingredients. The larger the size, the chewier.
If you love dressing, couscous may become your favourite salad grain. It allows the salad to hold a lot without absorbing all the dressing, like quinoa.
This grain can be found in many traditional recipes like apricot and pistachio couscous, but modern variations like sweet potato salad with a lime and basil vinaigrette are just flavourful, filling, and delicious.
Amaranth
High in protein and easy to grow, this is a great grain to get acquainted with. And if you’re a gardener with some space, it’s great to grow because every part of this plant is edible. Commonly cooked as a porridge or added to soup, amaranth grains are fine and can vary in flavour intensity.
Half a cup of cooked amaranth has 4.7g of protein, 2.6mg of iron, and 58 mg of calcium, as well as magnesium, manganese, and phosphorus.
Not only is it delicious in salads, but it can also be popped like corn.
Millet
Eaten around the world, this is one of the earliest grains cultivated by humans, with over 6000 varieties. A naturally gluten-free grain, this small seed can be cooked to the texture preference. When cooked well, it can be wonderfully fluffy.
It also has 5-6 grams of protein per 3/4 of a cooked cup, making it a great lunch addition to keep you full all afternoon.
Bulgur
Best known for its presence in delicious Tabbouleh – this grain is common in many dishes from the Middle East. The nutty wheat berries are quick to cook up if you are meal-prepping or just looking for a filling grain to add to a quick weeknight dinner.
This is a great salad grain, with 100g of cooked bulgar offering over 3g of protein, 13% of your daily Iron, 15% of your daily B6, and 41% of your daily magnesium.
More Salad Inspiration
If you are looking for salad inspiration, Pinterest always has something new to try. I’m a firm believer that we don’t need sad salads, and that people would be so much happier and healthier if they knew that salad could be more than sad lettuce and some tomatoes.
Want to see me cover something specific? Let me know in the comments.
