Cold Multigrain Salad

Here's a sneak-peak at one of the recipes from The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions, it will be in the chapter about substituting fat in your diet. This one has no added fats!

This Cold Multigrain Salad has no added fats and is full of nutrition.

Cold Multigrain Salad
Low Fat-Corn Free-Nut Free

WARNING: This makes a butt ton of salad...really. Like, so much you can take it to "Food Not Bombs" and feed all of downtown. I make this salad when I am going to a potluck or get together and let the old ladies swoon at the fact that it has less than 1 gram of fat per serving with 2 grams of fiber and 2.5 grams of protein and only 75 calories, which means it only has 1 WW point!

For the Salad:
1 cup dry pearled barley
1 cup dry red quinoa (white will work just fine as well)
1 cup dry wild rice blend
1/3 cup (1 ounce, 28 g) finely chopped green onion
1 shallot, diced
1 bell pepper, cored and seeded, diced (any color is fine)
2 tablespoons (30 g) minced garlic
1 ounce (28 g) finely chopped fresh parsley (about 1 packed cup)

For the dressing:
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup Bragg's Liquid Aminos (or soy sauce)
1/4 cup Agave nectar
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste

To make the salad, first prepare all of your grains. This can take awhile, so it's best to do some of the work in advance. For barley, the ratio is 1 cup barley to 3 cups lightly salted water. For the rice and the quinoa the ratio is 1 cup grain to 2 cups lightly salted water. It is not recommended to cook the grains together. You can, however, cook them in the oven at the same time. Mix the proper ratios, each into a separate covered oven safe casserole and bake at 350°F (180°C, or gas mark 4) until water is absorbed and grains are tender, about 45 minutes to an hour. Fluff with a fork. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Once grains are prepared, mix them all together in a large mixing bowl. Add in the green onion, shallot, bell pepper, garlic and parsley.

To make the dressing, whisk togehter the vinegar, Bragg's, agave, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper in a separate small bowl.

Add dressing to salad, and toss to mix.

Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Yield: 24 servings