Freekeh & pumpkin salad

I love all the grains that are available these days.  They are so versatile, can be served hot or cold, sweet or savoury and are enjoyable in any season of the year.  A great healthy way to thicken soup in the Winter or enjoy as a salad in the Summer.

Freekeh is the latest ‘superfood’ that is popular at the moment.  This is the first time I have cooked it and I have chosen the ‘cracked’ version.  It is in fact cracked, green wheat and as it is picked and roasted when the grain is green it has a higher percentage of protein, dietary fibre, vitamins and minerals.  It is not gluten free.  It is also available as a wholegrain which may take a little longer to cook.

Cooked just like rice or pasta it is yet another food that shines in the steam oven.   It is time that food manufacturers realised this so please, contact them and ask them to provide cooking instructions for a steam oven.  This is what happened when I did recipe testing and cooking instructions for Forbidden foods which was good for us all.  Have a look at that article here.  You may even want to cook some of those delicious recipes!

Ingredients:

1 cup Roasted, cracked Wholegrain Freekeh
1¼ cups water
500g butternut pumpkin, peeled and cubed
¼ cup toasted pine nuts
¼ cup toasted sunflower seeds
4 spring onions, sliced
1 cup chopped, flat leaf parsley or coriander
Large handful baby spinach leaves
1 clove garlic, crushed
grated rind and segments of one orange

Dressing optional:
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. white balsamic vinegar
sugar, salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Place nuts and seeds into oven @ 160°C for 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally until the pine nuts are golden brown.  Be careful not to burn them.
2. In the solid steamer tray add freekeh which has been washed with water with a pinch of salt
3. Cook @ 100°C for 20 minutes until cooked but still has a bite to the grain.
4. While the freekeh is cooking add another tray into the steam oven at a higher level with the cubed pumpkin.  This will take approximately 5 minutes.  Remove and set aside to cool.
5. Remove freekeh from the steam oven when cooked, add orange rind and the crushed garlic clove and set aside to cool.
6. Mix dressing ingredients together in a small jar.  This is optional, the dish has enough flavour with the orange rind in the freekeh.  We drizzled a little over the top rather than mixing it through.
7. Stir in all other ingredients reserving a few seeds for garnish, toss through the dressing, if using and serve.

Delicious with steamed chicken breast or salmon.