Wheat Berries with Roasted Veggies

I've been itching to use wheat berries again, but have had trouble finding anything enticing on the web or in my cookbooks. I came across some yummy looking salads, but since it's so cold outside I was hoping for something warm. I had the most delicious vegetarian yorkshire pudding with wheat berries, artichoke and mushrooms last spring while visiting Chicago and wanted to recreate it. Sadly, I didn't have the ingredients on hand and was not willing to venture out in the cold to the grocery. Instead, I used the items I had on hand and came up with the following. You can take or leave the gravy, I made it thin and thought it added a little something to the veggie/grain mixture. Let me know what you think!

1 C wheat berries
2 1/2 C broth (I used the turkey broth I made after Thanksgiving)
2 medium sweet potatoes, sliced in wedges
1 crown broccoli, cut into individual clusters
1/2 medium onion sliced in wedges
1/4 lb green beans, snapped in half
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Place broth in a pot with a lid and bring to a boil. Once the broth is boiling, add the wheat berries. Cover and simmer for 50 minutes.

In the meantime, place sweet potatoes and onion in a shallow baking dish or roasting pan. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with 1/2 of the olive oil. Place in oven and roast for 20 minutes. Add broccoli and stir. Roast for another 15-20 minutes. Add green beans and stir. Roast for another 10 minutes.

Strain wheat berries saving broth for gravy. Stir wheat berries into veggies. Serve over gravy.

Gravy
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
3/4 C stock left after wheat berries finish cooking
Salt & pepper to taste

Melt butter in a heavy saucepan over moderate heat, then add flour to make a roux. Cook roux, stirring for about 2 - 3 minutes. Add stock, whisking constantly to prevent lumps and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, whisking occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in salt and pepper.

Sour Cream Pumpkin Bundt Cake

I had quite a bit of leftover canned pumpkin in my freezer after the holidays and found this awesome recipe on the The Very Best Baking website. It was delicious and moist and stayed fresh for several days when stored covered in the fridge. I will definitely making this again next fall!

Ingredients

Struesel
1/2 C packed brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground allspice
2 tsp butter

Cake
3 C all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 C granulated sugar
1 C (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
4 large eggs
1 C canned pumpkin
1 container (8 oz.) sour cream
2 tsp vanilla extract

Glaze
1 1/2 C sifted powdered sugar
2 to 3 Tbsp milk

PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt pan.

FOR STREUSEL:COMBINE brown sugar, cinnamon and allspice in small bowl. Cut in butter with pastry blender or two knives until mixture is crumbly.

FOR BATTER:COMBINE flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Beat granulated sugar and butter in large mixer bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add pumpkin, sour cream and vanilla extract; mix well. Gradually beat in flour mixture.

TO ASSEMBLE:SPOON half of batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle Streusel over batter, not allowing Streusel to touch sides of pan. Top with remaining batter. Make sure batter layer touches edges of pan.BAKE for 55 to 60 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in cake comes out clean. Cool for 30 minutes in pan on wire rack. Invert onto wire rack to cool completely. Drizzle with Glaze.

FOR GLAZE:COMBINE 1 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar and 2 to 3 tablespoons milk in small bowl; stir until smooth.