Summer Buckwheat Salad

Erin Alderson

Summer Buckwheat Salad with Sweet Corn and Zucchini

This buckwheat salad was part of a picnic spread we packed for a short trip up to Lake Tahoe. If you’ve never cooked with buckwheat, it can be a bit finicky as some different varieties of buckwheat/kasha cook up into a pile of mush (good for a porridge base, not for salad). My preferred method/technique come from Martha Rose Shulman. It’s a bit different but the end result is more predictable.

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Roasted Zucchini, Corn, and Buckwheat Salad {Mountain Picnic}

  • Author: Erin Alderson
  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cook Time: 20 mins
  • Total Time: 30 mins
  • Yield: 2 servings
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Ingredients

  • 1 cup cooked kasha (toasted buckwheat)
  • 1 small zucchini
  • 1 ear of sweet corn
  • 1 medium sweet pepper
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 ripe avocado, cubed
  • Goat Cheese, optional
  • Juice from 1 lime
  • 1/4 cup minced cilantro
  • 2 teaspoons honey

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400˚. Dice zucchini and peppers into bite size pieces and remove corn from cob. Toss zucchini, peppers, and corn together with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast for 20-30 minutes until tender and beginning to brown.
  2. Combine roasted vegetables, cooked buckwheat, cubed avocado, and goat cheese, if using. Whisk together lime juice and honey, drizzle over salad. Add in cilantro and toss everything together.

Buckwheat Salad

variations

I find that when making a buckwheat salad, it’s important to account for the taste of buckwheat. The flavor of buckwheat is really earthy and isn’t like any other grain. While it can be overwhelming, it can also work really well with other flavors (like the roasted vegetables in this salad).

Grains: If you’re not in the mood to try out buckwheat, quinoa or millet would be my next grains of choice since they both cook up rather quickly.

Vegan: Leave out the cheese and honey (or use your favorite sweetener). The flavors of this salad are all about the roasted veg and grain, less so about the cheese.

Cheese: I like the goat cheese with the kasha but feta would also work.

Explore Buckwheat

Buckwheat and Tomato Stuffed Zucchini- Buckwheat

Buckwheat (the raw version) and Kasha (the toasted version) usually end up in my kitchen as flour. The earthy, slightly nutty flavor works really well in pancakes and crepes. I don’t use the whole grain as often but it’s really lovely for a simple breakfast porridge a salad, such as this one.

Buckwheat and Tomato Stuffed Zucchini
Buttermilk Buckwheat Pancakes