Gluten-Free Cranberry Spinach Buckwheat Salad

Beyond Umami is a blogger based in Edmonton, Canada who is a Speech-Language Pathologist by day and a food enthusiast and food blogger by night.   

It’s not often we find a delicious salad recipe that is chock-full of wholesome grains.  But thanks to health foodie Lillian Tse of Beyond Umami, this week we are proud to feature a Cranberry Spinach Buckwheat Salad that packs all the essential nutrients you need into every tasty forkful.

What makes this recipe a must-try for your lunchbox this week? Well for starters, the hearty salad is assembled with cooked buckwheat groats infused with olive oil and dried cranberries. If you’re new to buckwheat groats, the gluten-free, robustly flavored grain is a staple in traditional Eastern European cuisine where it is commonly used to make hot cereal, soups and salads.  

In addition to the grains, this nutrient-rich salad also features garlic smoked turkey, tomatoes, walnuts and provolone cheese for the salad toppings. The dressing is equal parts balsamic vinegar, olive oil and honey. Ready to dive in? Here's the recipe.

Cranberry Spinach Buckwheat Salad

Salad Ingredients

¾ cup cooked buckwheat groats

3 tsp dried cranberries

1 tsp olive oil

1 ½ cups spinach

½ tomato, sliced

2 tbsp walnuts, chopped

2 slices garlic smoked turkey

1-2 slices of provolone cheese

Dressing Ingredients

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp honey

Directions

1. Mix 3/4 cup of cooked buckwheat groats with 1 tsp olive oil and 3 tsp dried cranberries.
2. Slice half a tomato. Then cut the garlic smoked turkey and provolone cheese into small pieces.
3. Place 1 1/2 cups of spinach leaves into the larger container of Bentgo Salad. Top with walnuts and provolone cheese.
4. Place tomatoes, garlic smoked turkey and the cooked buckwheat groats into the compartment tray.
5. Mix 1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar with 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp honey into the salad dressing container.
6. Toss with dressing when ready to eat.

 What do you think of this recipe? Let us know in the comments below!