3000 miles 'til dinner.

Original MIL Mission #58: Harvest Grains Salad with Fresh Herbs.

I admit… I’ve been slacking a bit on the cooking front as I’ve been too busy enjoying the coming of Fall. I love Fall. Fall is my most favorite of seasons, when the weather cools down and a hint of the holidays is just around the corner. But it’s also a sad farewell to the hot and carefree days of summer. So to bid adieu, the hubby and I hosted a farewell-to-summer BBQ at our house this past Labor Day weekend (I know… that was three weeks ago. I’ve also been slacking on the blogging updates!), and I thought it would be a good opportunity to take on some MIL missions!

The first of them was the Harvest Grains salad, which I had a taste preview of earlier in the summer when MIL made it for a family reunion gathering. It was so simple and tasty, and everyone loved it as leftovers. So I was sure this was to be a crowd pleaser for our BBQ.

♥HOW I MADE IT.♥

Here are my ingredients. Lucky for us, Trader Joes is a staple in So Cal, so no need to make a multigrain mix from scratch — thank goodness!

I made a double serving of this recipe so that I could feed the masses, so first thing’s first — dump the whole package of Harvest Grains into a pot of boiling water and allow to cook.

While the grains cooked, I got to working on chopping my ingredients. I love that you can just about use any kind of herb for this dish. I decided to use cilantro, chives, parsley and dill. Green invasion!

And then put all my chopped goodness into a bowl, ready to be tossed with the grains once they were ready.

And approximately 12 minutes later… voila! After a little fluffing, they were ready!

Cooled the grains a bit and then tossed them into the bowl of chopped veggies, adding the lemon, olive oil, vinegar and spices.

♥MIL MISSION #58: ACCOMPLISHED.♥

Super easy peasy. I love all the colors in this dish — they just brighten up any table or meal. The dish came out great. All the guests dived in, and it was a perfect end-of-summer dish that makes use of garden vegetables and herbs. The next time I make this dish, I may use a little less olive oil. It didn’t affect the dish in any way, it’s just my personal preference. Otherwise… perfect!

♥PLATE IT, ATE IT, GRADED IT.♥

scale: 0 (not at all) to 5 (very)

Cupboard to table time: 40 min.

Difficulty: 1

Deliciousness: 5

Impressed crowd factor: 5 (my friends are always impressed when I make something, but I have even more reinforcement this time around when my friend’s little boy cleaned off his plate of Harvest Grains salad and asked for more of it, and only that!)

Leftover-friendly: 5