Easy Apple and Turnip Salad

This recipe is quick, easy, nutritious, and delicious. Serves 2.

Ingredients:

1 small turnip
1 medium to large tart-crisp apple, such as Pink Lady
2 tsp. lemon juice

Peel and julienne the turnip and apple into 2-inch strips. Stir together with the lemon juice.

Apple and Watermelon-Radish Muffin Recipe

This morning's muffin-making experiment turned out so delicious, I had to share. If you like your muffins sweet, replace the milk with an additional 1/4 cup of honey. I actually decreased the amount of flour by two tablespoons and substituted some flax seed meal and wheat germ, but this is optional:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease 12 muffin tins (I lightly sprayed silicon muffin cups with vegetable cooking spray).

Ingredients:

• 1 medium apple (we used Pink Lady) and 1 large watermelon radish, shredded, set aside, mixed with
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice

Dry ingredients:

• 1/4 cup all-purpose King Arthur flour
• 1 3/4 cups King Arthur whole wheat flour
• 2 tablespoons Featherweight Baking Powder
• 1/8 tsp. ground cardamom
• 1/8 tsp. ground allspice
• liberal dash of fresh-ground nutmeg

Wet ingredients:

• well-beaten whites from four eggs, separated (1/4 cup egg substitute will suffice instead)
• 1/4 cup local raw honey
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup sunflower or other oil

 Mix the dry ingredients together. Mix the apple/radish mixture into the dry ingredients, then stir in the wet ingredients until the batter is moist. Ladle into the muffin cups. Put in the preheated oven and turn the oven down to 350 degrees. Bake for 20 minutes or until done.

Wheat Berry Salad Recipe

This recipe is adapted from The Whole Foods Market Cookbook and is quite good. Be sure to plan the time to pre-soak the wheat berries before you cook, and use a sweet-tart apple. I used Pink Lady apples, but Granny Smith or Gala will do nicely. Once soaked, this takes less time than you think to make, because all the chopping can be done while the water is heating up and the berries are cooking. This recipe  serves six.

2 cups wheat berries
7 cups water
1 cup chopped unsalted almonds
2 medium apples, cored and chopped
1 cup chopped dried apricots
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley or cilantro
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup apple juice
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/8 cup lemon juice

Cover the wheat berries in water that covers by two inches and soak for 6 to 8 hours or more in the refrigerator. Drain the water and set aside the wheat berries. In a large stockpot or Dutch oven bring the water to boil. Add the wheat berries and let them simmer, uncovered, for 50 minutes. They will have a firm, chewy texture. Drain the water and set aside the wheat berries to cool.

Transfer the wheat berries to an extra-large salad bowl and add the other ingredients. Mix everything thoroughly and serve. The lemon will prevent the apples from discoloring, so this can be covered, refrigerated, and served the next day.

If you've forgotten to pre-soak the wheat berries, they can be cooked in about the same amount of time in a pressure cooker if they haven't been soaked.