For me, it has to have a LOT of herbs. Tons. Coriander, parsley, chives. Heaps! Gives it that lovely taste of summer. Then I add cucumber, spring onion, tomato, skinned and roasted red pepper.

John, these yummy salads can be made with most grains, we like quinoa and bulgur. I agree with islay corbel, LOTS of herbs. Flat leaf parsley and mint make for a very fresh middle eastern flavour (with other veggies, of course). The quinoa and bulgur salads can be made very quickly. I rinse the grains, then cover with boiling water to hydrate while I wash and chop the veggies. When the water is absorbed and the grain softened (no, I don't measure stuff), add a little olive oil, lemon juice, minced garlic and oregano, salt and pepper. Let sit till cool-ish, then add veggies & herbs. Can be as varied as you like and use up what is available.

I love grain salads. Hearty and versatile, and something healthy and unusual to bring to potlucks and such. To serve them as a main dish, it is only necessary to add some cooked lentils (I like lentils du puy as they keep their shape nicely), cubes of firm cheese or chopped roasted meats or flaked fish.

Here is one recipe I wrote out. Notice I didn't include measurements, it's all done to taste and preference.

Mixed grain salad with roasted butternut squash

A mixture of grains...try to use at least 3 kinds, of different colors. I use varying combinations of basmati rice, long grain brown rice*, barley, bulgar (tabuleh), quinoa, wild rice, millet, and sometimes, to lighten the texture, I add couscous.

Onions, celery, carrots-chopped

Green peas (frozen are fine-if you have fresh, blanch them first)

Roasted butternut squash cubes**

Cranberry vinaigrette***

Chopped parsley & green onions

Chopped, toasted nuts (I like pecans or hazelnuts)

Cook grain selections separately, according to directions, but remember that they will absorb dressing and soften, so a bit al dente is better than over cooked.

Saute onions, celery, carrots until tender, but not too soft. Toss with grains, parsley, green onions and vinaigrette. Gently fold butternut squash cubes in.

*Short grain rices are too sticky for this dish, in my opinion.

**Roasted butternut squash. Peel squash. Cut into 1/2 inch cubes. toss in olive oil and roast in the oven, checking frequently until just cooked, but not mushy. If it doesn't brown at all, pass under a broiler after cooking just to brown the edges a bit.

***Cranberry vinaigrette. Make a basic vinaigrette with olive oil, red wine or champagne vinegar, garlic & onion powders, salt & pepper. Put the vinaigrette in a blender with about 3/4 Tablespoon dried cranberries per cup vinaigrette, and puree until smooth. Then, add about a quarter cup of dried cranberries for every cup vinaigrette, and pulse blender until cranberries are chopped, but not pureed. Let vinaigrette sit over night.

Before tossing the grain salad in the dressing, taste the vinaigrette for sweetness and add a bit of sugar if need be. It shouldn't be too tart or too sweet.

Sprinkle the toasted chopped nuts on top and garnish with sprigs of parsley, green onion tassels or carrot curls and a few whole dried cranberries.

Boy, about anything goes when it comes to tabouleh (and it's many spelling variations). A good way to clean out the vegetable drawer.

Around here it comes into it's own during cucumber and tomato season, as well as the fresh herbs from the garden. I even make my own bulgur and will make it from white or red wheat varieties, but also spelt, kamut, or triticale (a high-protein durum wheat/rye hybrid). I also like the gluten-free quinoa used for tabouleh. Another gluten-free variation can be made with a package of Lundberg Brand roasted garlic and olive oil Brown Rice Couscous.

I like chives instead of green onions, or try finely-chopped red onion, and usually skip the mint. Occasionally I'll add some shredded carrots, or even some chopped celery, spinach, thinly sliced radish (all non-traditional add-ins, but this isn't Fiddler on the Roof). Basil goes so well with tomatoes and I'll use it. And what the heck, toss in some leftover black beans or adzuki beans languishing in the refrigerator.

Stuff it into homemade pitas or arepas for a great vegetarian sandwich.

-Grainlady

Grain salads were always one of our family's packed lunch staples.

MEDITERRANEAN WHEAT BERRY SALAD

3/4 cup wheat berries
3/4 cup brown rice
6 Tbs. basalmic or red wine vinegar
1 (6 oz.) jar marinated artichoke hearts
2 Tbs. olive oil
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
2 Roma tomatoes, cut in 1/2 inch cubes
1 cucumber, cut in 1/2 inch cubes
3/4 cup thinly sliced green onion (or less if desired)
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/3 cup calamata olives, pitted and halved
1/3 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup chopped parsley
Salt and pepper

Combine wheat berries, rice and 6 cups water in a 3 quart pan. Add salt and bring to a boil over high heat. Cover and simmer until grain are tender to bit (30 to 35 minutes). Drain well; pour into large bowl. Drain artichoke marinade into bowl with grains. Coarsely chop artichokes and add to bowl along with vinegar, oil, mustard and oregano. Mix thoroughly; let stand until cool. Add remaining ingredients and salt and pepper to taste. Mix.

BEEF-BARLEY SALAD - serves 4

10 oz. well-trimmed flank steak
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 1/2 cups defatted chicken broth
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. grated lemon zest
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking barley
6 oz. green beans, cut into 1 inch lengths
1 Tbs. olive oil
2 carrots, shredded
2 tomatoes, cut into 8 wedges each
2 Tbs. coarsely chopped toasted pecans
4 cups torn romaine lettuce leaves

Rub the steak with 1 Tbs. of the lemon juice and the salt. Grill or broil until medium-rare. Let cool, then refrigerate overnight. Next day, cut the steak on the diagonal in bite-size pieces, reserving any juices.

In a medium saucepan, combine 2 cups of the broth, 1/2 cup of water, the garlic, lemon zest, and ginger and bring to a boil over medium heat. Add the barley, reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook until the barley is almost tender, about 8 minutes. Add the green beans and cook until the beans are crisp-tender and the barley is tender, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat; do not drain any remaining liquid.

In a large bowl, combine the remaining 1/ 2 cup broth, the remaining 3 Tbs. lemon juice, the steak juices, and the oil. Add the beef and everything else except the lettuce, tossing well to combine.

Pack lettuce and salad mixture separately and serve salad on top of lettuce.

I often make a grain salad using quinoa (and lately, farro) as a base, but I don't often follow a recipe. Here's a few takes on different flavors:

Southwestern:
For something with a southwestern feel, I'll add black beans, corn, green onions, cilantro, and red peppers, and toss with a chili-lime vinaigrette.

Mediterranean:
If I have leftover roasted vegetables (asparagus, peppers, onions, etc) I can add some artichoke hearts, chick peas, oregano, basil, and cherry tomatoes and toss with some garlic-infused oil and vinegar.

Nutty:
An excellent salad, based on a recipe from an old Bon Appetit magazine uses diced red and yellow peppers, diced celery, carrots and red onions, toasted almond slivers, and a simple balsamic vinaigrette.

Curried:
Another good one, using chopped chicken, diced onion and red pepper, chopped apples or mango, cilantro and cashews, tossed in a sweet curry-yogurt dressing.

Experiment! There are so many possibilities.

Thank you for the ideas. I'm having fun with this. It has been a long winter and I'm sick of heavy slow-cooked sauced dishes. In the mood for light, spicy, fresh, salad-y stuff.

And fish. SWMBO and I both went to the store, both came home with an armload of salmon. She bought the packaged filet, I bought the whole fish (cheaper). Now we have to eat 5 lb of salmon before it goes off.

Now, with salmon, a cucumber sauce goes well. My ex MIL, scottish, (they have wonderful salmon in Scotland!) shared this recipe with me and it's lovely.
Peel a cucumber and remove the seeds. Finely dice half, and liquidise the other half. Saut� the dice in a little butter for a couple of minutes, then add a little flour. Then add the liquid cucumber and enough white wine to make a nice sauce. At the end, add a little cream.
Serve with the salmon, boiled new potatoes and peas. Very pretty on a plate.

I haven't been doing much cooking worth mentioning, what with waiting for a new refrigerator, but we have continued making quick grain salads. I wanted to mention a couple things I've learned.

First, grains have lots of calories. E.g. cooked couscous is 180 cal per cup. Bad since bikini season is approaching. However, a reasonable substitute for couscous, bulgur, etc is . . . cauliflower. Take a raw cauliflower and pass it through the grating disc of your food processor, or grate by hand. It becomes little white bits of a size and texture quite similar to this grains. At 25 cal per cup, a cauliflower base makes these salads, which are otherwise mostly vegetables, quite low-calorie. (I learned this from Alton Brown.)

Second, entirely raw stuff just doesn't have enough flavor, for me. I'm tending to cook at least half of the ingredients before adding to the salad. Just a light saut� or quick microwaving. The couscous gets fried with olive oil until slightly toasty, then I add a small amount of boiling water or stock.

Third, it can't be all soft stuff. I add toasted nuts to almost every grain salad, and lately like to add brown, crisp bacon lardons.

Fourth, too much lemon juice can make things too bitter - but you can never have too much lemon zest.

Traditional grain salads are low on the grain, high on the veggies. I like my tabouleh about half parsley and half bulgur, but I've seen it done more like 2/3 parsley to 1/3 grain. Same goes with other grain salads. Oh, and if you're eating vegetarian, with hummus, pita and tzatsiki done with non-fat greek yogurt as a side, or the salmon thingie, not too bad in the calorie dept. if you watch your portions. Fresh melon or strawberries makes a good low cal. dessert.

For example, I finished off a salad this morning that is grated cauliflower, onion, shallot, garlic, cucumber, toasted almonds, corn, scallions, some weird Asian veg that I've never seen before, crispy lardons, olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika, lemon juice - appx 150 cal per 6 oz serving. Skip the almonds and lardons and it would be under 100 cal.

I'm siding with lpinkmountain. I adjust the ratio of grains and other ingredients in a grain-based salad to suit our nutritional and servings size needs. One serving of grains to 1 or 2 servings of vegetables, or whatever fits into my daily servings from each food group.

It's still about what a serving size is. Just as one 1-ounce slice of bread is a serving, or 1/2 c. of pasta is a serving, a serving of cooked grains is also 1/2 cup. We use the old "Basic-4" for meal planning and stick to 4-servings from the bread/grains group for our daily intake - all whole grains.

It's not just about calories from one group of foods, but the total for the day from a large variety of foods from all the food groups.

-Grainlady

I guess I can sometimes come off as being down on grains. Of all the food groups, the one that is the biggest problem for me is grains.

In the form of bread, other baked goods, pasta and rice, grains pack way too much calories per unit of volume or of ''satisfyiness'', for me. A half-cup of pasta or rice may be a serving, but it sure doesn't seem like much. Grains are also so cheap that practically no commercial meal has only one serving of grains. The typical sandwich on foccacia or a roll might have 2 or 3 servings, the typical donburi bowl from the Japanese lunch cart has 4+, a bagel is at least 2-3. Heck, the loaves of bread I've all but stopped baking must each be 10 servings?

When I'm on a diet, as I plan to be soon, I can have virtually no grains. I mean, maybe a 1/4 slice of bagel or 1 slice of bread at lunch and 3 oz of pasta in the afternoon, and it better be delicious to be worth the calories. In the end, that's a lot of prep work for about 4 mouthfuls, plus it's hard to buy/make/bake in such minute quantities - one-quarter of a bagel or one slice of bread or the tbsp of sauce needed for 3 ounces of pasta. It is much more convenient to prepare, say, one serving of fish or several servings of veg.

That's why I have such a love-hate thing going on with grains. To the extent that I am trying to develop a grain salad without grain, odd as it may seem.