Freekeh Salad
Freekeh Salad recipe from Rick Stein's brilliant cookbook From Venice to Istanbul. Perfect as an accompanying pilaf or summer side salad, this Middle-Eastern inspired treat is flavoured with pomegranate seeds, pistachios, mint and spring onion.
From the book
Rick Stein: From Venice to Istanbul
Relaxed, elegant dinner party dishes
All the recipes from Rick's TV series
The secret gems of Mediterranean cooking
Introduction
Freekeh is dried green wheat, harvested while the grains are still soft, then sun-dried. It is very common in the Middle East and North Africa, and is used in the same way as bulgur, couscous or pearled spelt. It works well as an accompanying pilaf or a salad, in this case with pomegranate seeds, pistachios, mint and spring onion.
Ingredients
| 200g | freekeh, pearled spelt or pearled barley |
| 1 litre | water |
| Salt and freshly ground black pepper | |
| 5 tbsp | olive oil |
| 4 | spring onions, finely chopped |
| seeds 1 pomegranate | |
| handful flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped | |
| handful mint, roughly chopped | |
| 1½ tbsp | pomegranate molasses |
| 2 tbsp | pistachios, roughly crushed |
Method
Put the freekeh and water in a pan together with 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, bring to the boil, then turn down to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes until just tender. Drain and allow to cool.
When cool, mix together the freekeh with the spring onions, pomegranate seeds and herbs, and season with salt and pepper. Whisk together the remaining 4 tablespoons of olive oil and the pomegranate molasses with a pinch of salt, and dress the salad with it, mixing gently. Serve topped with pistachios.
