#FlashbackFriday with one of my all time favorite pasta salads. As much as I love salads, there are a few that seem to get repeated in our house over and over again like this Vegan, Harvest Grain Salad. The thing that makes this “pasta salad” amazing is the texture you get from combining all of the deliciously nutty, Harvest Grains. They have a nice crunchy, chewiness that is offset by the tangy marinated artichokes and sweet sun dried tomatoes.
Feel free to mix and match any of your favorite things ~ marinated mushrooms, roasted red peppers and olives…..the options are endless!
Just make sure you finish with white balsamic (brown makes it a funky color) to balance the salad out and give it that tangy, sweet finish.
This recipe only uses 1/2 the bag, but, I often double it whenever I am going to share it with others.
HARVEST GRAIN SALAD (print it!)
INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups Vegetable Broth
- 1 1/4 cups Harvest Grain Blend (Trader Joe’s or Make Your Own!)
- 7 oz marinated artichokes, roughly chopped
- 2/3 cup sun dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 cup chives, minced
- Big Dashes of TJ’s 21 Spice Salute, optional
- Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
1. In a medium soup pan, bring broth to a boil. Reduce heat and add Harvest Grain Blend. Boil for 10 minutes or until the sauce is almost absorbed. The mixture may stick to the pan slightly and that is ok.
2. While the Harvest Grains Boil, prepare the ingredients above. Remove the cooked Harvest Grains from the heat and toss with the remaining ingredients (artichokes through black pepper).
3. Serve warm or chilled.
Makes six 1/2 cup servings, 4 WWFreestyle Smartpoints, 4 points+ each
Nutritional information per serving for all ingredients:
STEP – BY – STEP
This is probably one of the easiest pasta/grain side dishes you will ever make. I lovelove Trader Joe’s Harvest Grains Blend because it has a fantastic texture and is packed with so many nutritious grains.
No worries, if you do not have a Trader Joe’s near you to buy it! At the request of all my Florida fans, last year, I re-created this mix from scratch.
Check out this post If you would like to Make Your Own Harvest Grain Mix!
I love all the different grains and such that are included ~ who knew they made Baby garbanzo beans?!
4 points per 1/2 cup serving, prepared!
Simply start by portioning out 1/2 the Harvest Grain bag (approximately 1 1/4 cups) and boil it for 10 minutes in the broth to cook it.
After the grains are cooked, remove them from the heat and all your favorite additions. For this recipe, I love using tangy marinated artichoke hearts, sweet sun dried tomatoes and chives for color!
Finish with white balsamic vinegar (brown makes it a funky color) to balance the salad out and give it that tangy, sweet finish.
This salad can be enjoyed hot or cold ~ either way, it’s absolutely delicious.
One of my tell tale signs that healthy recipes pass the test is when The Husband loves them too. He refuses to eat couscous (he says it’s just plain weird), but, he loves this salad and requests it all year long!
I will catch up with you all tomorrow with the recipe for my Strawberry Mini Muffins, Soup or My daily ~ it all just depends on how much time I have. It is going to be a long day!
Night all!
This is one of my favorite recipes of yours! Thanks for sharing it again! I will have to do some messing around with it to use what I’ve got on hand!
Hi Danica!
For the sun-dried tomatoes–what brand do you use? I’ve had trouble finding the kind that aren’t jarred in oil even at Trader Joe’s. I don’t want the extra fat from the oil in the tomatoes especially if I’m cooking with olive oil initially (browning garlic etc.)
HI Amanda,
I used the Trader Joe’s Brand ~ they are in a white package and just “dried” not packed in oil. They are usually hanging in the nut isle and/or by the salads
Here is a link to a post where I took a picture of the bag.
http://danicasdaily.com/thats-a-chicken-rollatini/
Good luck!
Danica
I’ve been meaning to pick up a bag from TJ’s! I really like their frozen mushroom risotto…
This is THE best pasta salad. My husband also is not fond of couscous but really likes this. Thanks for all your posts.
I LOVE this! Thanks for reminding me to make it again.
The first time I used it, I didn’t have white balsamic. Definitely throws off the color, but so so delicious nonetheless!
Danica,
I CANNOT tell you how much I appreciate your blog! You have truely inspired my taste buds which makes it so much easier (and exciting) to keep on track with my daily points plus. I look forward to reading through your tricks of trade everyday! Thanks so much! I also LOVE LOVE LOVE how Trader Joe savy you are. I LOVE that place!
I love this salad of yours and make it ALL the time!
I love that mix! & yes you can add whatever you want to it to make it tasty! 🙂 YUM!
I happen to have that grain blend on hand right now, so I will be making this recipe for sure!
We don’t have a Trader Joe’s around here, need to travel about 50 miles to one.Do you have any suggestions what I can substitute or where I can get their things? I went onto their website and they don’t sell online…HELP… HELP…. HELP!!!
Hi MaryAnn,
I actually re-created this Harvest Grain Mix so you do not need to go to a Trader Joe’s to buy it. Here is a link to that post with all the ingredients you need to make your own Harvest Grains.
http://danicasdaily.com/a-must-try-harvest-grain-mix-my-weekly-menu
Enjoy!
Danica
I finally made this salad and oh my yum! I loved it. I had to make a plain batch of TJs harvest grains for my veggie hatin’, balsamic hatin’ family, but it was worth it. I paired it with TJs mango chicken sausage and steamed broccoli slaw. Thanks for a great idea.
Just made this – yum! I think I would add a little less vinegar next time, it seems a little overpowering! One question though- do your points + calculations include the sun dried tomatoes and marinated artichokes? When I put the ingredients into the recipe builder I get much higher #’s. I ended up leaving out the artichokes and adding cooked portobello mushrooms instead
Hi Jessica,
Did you use sun dried tomatoes packed in oil when you calculated the nutrition? I use sun dried tomatoes not packed in oil and drain the artichokes. That will make a big difference in the calculation. I like your modifications – sounds delicious!
Danica
This looks delicious. Couple of questions- do you add the marinade from the artichokes or wash the artichokes at all? Also, I forgot the stinking seasoning!! Can I use a Italian seasoning or garlic and herb or something?? How many servings does this make? I can’t wait to make this!
Hi Heather,
I do not wash the artichokes and just put them in as is. It’s ok if you do not have the seasoning – Italian or garlic/herb seasoning will work fine. This makes 6 servings, 1/2 cup each. Enjoy!
Danica