Happy New Year! Hope everyone survived the holidays. We had lots of family time over at the saltandserenity homestead, which explains why you have not heard from me since December 19! We managed to consume most of the cookies I posted about last month and I made latkes twice. All in all, a very delicious month.

As is customary around here, the first post of the new year is something healthyish, emphasis on the “ish”. Let’s start with the crunch. Of course we have the obligatory vegetable crunch, provided by raw kale, Brussels sprouts and sugar snap peas. Walnuts add supplemental crunch and a slight bitterness, which I have recently learned to appreciate. If you’re not into them, pecans or hazelnuts would be great. Just DON’T FORGET to toast them.

Apples provide a sweet-tart crunch. I found some Cosmic Crisp apples to use in my salad. If you see them, grab them! A cross between the Enterprise and Honeycrisp apple, Cosmic Crisps are out of this world crunchy and juicy and a bit more tart than Honeycrisps. They are excellent in salads as they are slow to brown.

The final crunch in this salad is provided by coarse homemade breadcrumbs. I took some stale sourdough bread, cut it into cubes and tossed it liberally with extra virgin olive oil and salt. I toasted them in a moderate oven until browned, and then crushed the croutons into coarse crumbs. That way, each bite of salad has some of this delicious crunch. They are also excellent in soups.

The addition of wheat berries make this salad a nutritional powerhouse. They are a whole grain and are packed with fiber, protein and iron. If you have never tried them, you will love their chewy texture and nutty taste.

We’re not going overboard with healthy. Baby steps here. There is cheese in this salad, Pecorino Romano, to be specific. The delicate funk and rich tangy flavour of pecorino is a perfect foil for the sweet apple and the bitter greens.