pâté and salad

Dinner tonight was just right- a good balance of something heavy with a light, healthy salad. I brought home a small slab of pâté de campagne from work today, and assembled a quick and easy tartine (open-faced sandwich). A slice of toasted country white bread, then a smear of mayo and whole grain mustard, layered with slices of pâté and pickled pearl onions. All I needed was a glass of red wine, but sadly, my cabinets and wine rack are pretty bare bones at the moment since the moving began.

I like pork and pork products such as pâté, cured meats, scrapple, sausages... They certainly don't help me lower my borderline-high cholesterol, that's for sure. So in an effort to bring in some sort of vegetal component into my dinner, I threw together a quick salad of glazed carrots and wheatberries. Glazed with maple syrup and vanilla, the sweetness of the salad gave just the right balance to the acidity of the mustard and pickled onions. Wheatberries are not my favorite thing to eat, since they have a hard chewy texture that makes my jaw ache. But they are healthy, high in both protein and fiber. Be sure to cook them through thoroughly, and serve warm so that they still have some tenderness and bite to them.


Maple-Vanilla Glazed Carrot and Wheatberry Salad

2 medium carrots, peeled and julienned
3/4 cup - 1 cup cooked wheatberries
1/2 cup chicken broth, or water
seeds from 1/2 of a vanilla bean
2 Tbsp maple syrup
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
parsley, for garnish

1. To a small saucepan, add carrots, broth or water, vanilla, maple syrup and butter. You may need more or less broth, depending on the amount of carrots and the size of your pan. Basically you want to cover the carrots with liquid, just barely. Bring to a boil, and turn down to a simmer. Cook for 6-8 minutes until carrots are tender.

2. Remove carrots with a slotted spoon and add to the cooked wheatberries in a bowl. Reduce the cooking liquid down further over low heat to thicken it up. When it's the desired consistency, pour over the carrots, along with the vinegar and parsley. Add salt and pepper to taste. Toss well and serve warm.