Freekeh Salad with Sumac Lamb
Always
one to try something new when I see it; when I discovered a box of
Freekeh on the shelves of Bristol Sweetmart the other day, I
couldn't resist buying it.
Freekeh
is a roasted green wheat which is particularly popular in Palestine,
the Arabian peninsula and Egypt. According to Wikipedia: "The
wheat is harvested while the grains are yellow and the seeds are
still soft; it is then piled and sun-dried. The piles are then
carefully set on fire so only the straw and chaff burn and not the
seeds. It is the high moisture content of the seeds that prevents
them from burning. The now roasted wheat undergoes further thrashing
and sun-drying to make the flavour, texture, and colour uniform. It
is this thrashing or rubbing process of the grains that gives this
food its name, farīk
or
“rubbed.” The seeds are now cracked into smaller pieces so they
look like a green bulgur."
The
initial plan was to make this as a vegetarian salad, but a surplus
lamb shank changed that plan. Buying three of any piece of meat
usually proves difficult as the store normally packages them in twos.
Although shanks were available to buy singularly at the butcher
counter, they were much smaller and looked inferior.
This
recipe would work equally well with other cracked wheat such as
bulgur, or even couscous or rice.
Freekeh Salad with Sumac Lamb, Figs and Feta
Serves
2
Syn
Free on Extra easy providing you use the cheese as your Healthy Extra
A
150g
cooked lamb
1
tsp sumac
100g
freekeh
5-6
small fresh figs, quartered
100g
feta cheese, cubed
½
red onion, thinly sliced
small
bunch of flat leaf parsley, chopped
Cut
the cooked lamb in to small slivers and coat with the sumac. Leave in
infuse for a while. Cook the freekeh in plenty of salted water for 30
minutes or until cooked to your liking. Mix together all the
ingredients and serve.
This
was a great salad to take for a car picnic today, although I did
carry the feta cheese and parsley separately and mixed in just as I
was serving.
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