Oh yes, this festive combination of toasty freekeh, roast kumara, cranberries and walnuts with a maple and red wine vinegar dressing is fabulously delicious!
In this salad I've matched freekeh with roasted orange beauregard kumara (sweet potato), dried cranberries, toasted walnuts, red onion, lots of parsley and a maple and red wine vinegar dressing. It's super yum with the sweet and tangy flavours working in contrast to the earthy freekeh.
Really this salad is delicious any time, but I think it's especially suited to Christmas. The flavours will work well alongside traditional fare, and be a really substantial veg option too. Your guests might not have tried freekeh before, but the flavours are familiar and I don't think you'll frighten anyone too much with this one.
Freekeh is green wheat which has been roasted over open fires then beaten to remove the husk. It looks a bit like bulghur wheat, but the grains are bigger and darker. The texture is also similar, though freekeh is denser and chewier. The flavour is earthy, nutty, slightly smoky and deeply savoury.
Freekeh could well be new to you. I only cooked with it for the first time this year, and I'm pretty obsessed interested in new ingredients. Fear not, there's nothing difficult about it. Freekeh is easily available in New Zealand from supermarket bulk bins and whole foods stores. I got mine at Pak n Save.
Cooking it is also pretty easy - you just throw it in a pot with water and a few bits and pieces to flavour it, cover it and cook over a low heat for half an hour or so. The only trick is that you don't want any water left at the end. If that happens and the freekeh is cooked, just drain it off and put it back on the element for a few minutes to dry off any residual wetness. It'll be fine, freekeh seems very forgiving as it's quite a sturdy grain.
If you like the sound of this salad, but you're gluten free, then I'd suggest replacing the freekeh with buckwheat, quinoa, or maybe even green lentils.
INGREDIENTS
For the freekeh:
- 1 ½ cups freekeh
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp vegetable stock powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 4 cups boiling water
For the dressing:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 clove garlic crushed
- ½ tsp salt
- A good grind of black pepper
For the salad:
- 1 large orange kumara (sweet potato - approximately 800g)
- 1 tbsp olive oil or spray oil
- 1 cup walnut pieces roughly chopped
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 1 cup parsley finely chopped
- 1 red onion finely chopped
INSTRUCTIONS
For the freekeh:
- Put the freekeh, olive oil, stock powder, salt and water in a deep pan and bring to a low boil.
- Cover and cook for 25-30 minutes, or until the freekeh is tender but chewy, and there is no liquid left in the pan.
- Put the cooked freekeh into a large mixing bowl and allow to cool.
For the dressing:
- Put all dressing ingredients into a small jar and shake well to combine, or mix in a container of your choice.
For the salad:
- Preheat oven to 200C.
- Peel and dice the kumara into approximately 1.5 cm cubes.
- Toss with 1 tbsp olive oil, season well and bake for 20-30 minutes or until cooked and caramelised around the edges. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
- Toast your walnuts in a dry frying pan, or in the oven for 5-10 minutes until fragrant and golden brown. Remove from the pan and allow to cool.
- Add kumara, walnuts, cranberries, parsley and onion to the freekeh. Pour over the dressing and gently stir to combine everything well (you don't want to smash the kumara up).
- Refrigerate until ready to serve.
- This is a big salad. Depending on what else is on the table, it could easily serve 8-10 people as a side dish.
NUTRITION INFORMATION
YUM! I'll have to use quinoa or rice to make a GF option, but this is definitely getting made for our Christmas Eve family get together. Thank you - looks beautiful!
i have never tried freekeh and this makes me want to so bad! I love the addition of cranberries and walnuts in here as well, i need to try asap!
I love freekeh. I'd make this with pomegranate seeds instead of cranberries. Yum.