Bored of the same post-work dinners I decided to make something new with something I had never tried before. 

Having seen Merchant Gourmets ready to eat Freekeh on offer on Ocado and having heard it apparently wins hands down over the likes of quinoa and other grains for being high in fibre and protein as well as being low fat, I had to give it a try. 

Freekeh is a green wheat that is harvested young which gives it a smoky, almost nutty flavour. 

This ready to eat version is perfect for those who don’t have much time to make a decent, nutritional and filling meal.  It can be eaten cold straight out the packet, or heated on the hob or whizzed in the microwave in just over a minute. 

I decided to use it as a replacement for bulgar wheat in a tabbouleh like dish.

In a bowl I mixed in four chopped tomatoes (fresh off the vine they smelt beautiful) with one larger sized banana shallot. I then added one chopped mini red pepper and one spring onion, these were rogue remains left in the fridge. To this I added some freshly squeezed lemon juice, olive oil and a tiny sprinkling of salt before adding in a bunch of chopped parsley and mint. Finally, I added the freekeh and gave it a good stir. 

I served the lovely mixture on a bed of spinach for extra added goodness. And this is how it turned out… 

 

It was simple and delicious and took no more than 15 minutes to do.  Perfect for sorting the nights dinner and tomorrow’s lunch in one go, I would recommend it to all unless you are following a gluten free diet. 

It would also be perfect accompanied with chicken or fish, which I will probably do next time.