Here’s a salad recipe for anyone who’s looking for a non-leafy salad. This Freekeh and Pomegranate Salad mixed through with a sumac infused yoghurt is simply divine.
Bring 2 cups of water in a small saucepan to boil. Add the freekeh and some salt. Boil for 40 minutes on medium heat. Strain the freekeh in a colander and run under cold water to stop the cooking process.
In another small saucepan, bring 2.5 cups of water to boil. Add the barley. Boil for 40 minutes on medium heat. Strain the barley and run under cold water to stop the cooking process.
De-seed pomegranate. Cut the pomegranate in half. Stretch the flesh to loosen it up. Over a bowl, place the pomegranate face down on your palm. With a wooden spoon, knock on the back of the pomegranate and the seeds will fall through your fingers into the bowl.
Cut the tops of the celery. Slice diagonally into thin slices.
Roughly chop the cilantro (coriander) to give you ½ cup.
Dry toast the pine nuts on a small fry pan until golden brown.
Then dry toast the crushed peanuts on the fry pan until golden brown.
Place all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl. If you don’t want the barley to be stained in pink, be sure to drain the pomegranate as much as possible so the juices aren’t mixed into the salad.
Season with salt and pepper.
Mix gently.
Salad Dressing
In a small mixing bowl, mix the Greek yoghurt, honey, sumac, and cinnamon.
Mix it well until the honey is well distributed throughout the yoghurt.
Assembly
Place half the mixed salad onto a serving platter. Add dollops of the yoghurt dressing on top of the salad.
Add the remaining half of the salad and finish off the dressing on top. Serve.
Notes
If you prefer, you can place the yoghurt dressing in a bowl on the side and your guests can help themselves. If you prefer this method, I would make an additional half a serve in case some of your guests are a little heavy handed.
You can substitute barley with quinoa or buckwheat.
If you’re not a fan of cinnamon, nutmeg makes for a great replacement.
This is quite a heavy salad and can be eaten as a meal on its own.