As I did in 2015, I’ll be continuing with my mission to go meatless on Mondays. It’s been rather easy to make the change as I love roasting a whole bunch of veggies on Sundays that I then use on Mondays in salads with couscous, quinoa or freekeh.

For those not familiar with freekeh, it’s an ancient grain that has long been recognized as a main ingredient in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cooking.

Freekehlicious is the leading importer of Greenwheat Freekeh, a product of Australia. A couple months ago, the company sent me samples of its cracked and wholegrain freekeh for me to try and I’ve been addicted ever since.

The cooking process for freekeh is very simple:

• In small saucepan, place ½ cup of Freekehlicious and 1½ cups of water or broth and bring to a boil.
• Stir, reduce heat to simmer.
• Cover and cook – cracked freekeh: 20 minutes and wholegrain freekeh: 40 minutes. .
• Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes.
• Yields 1½ cups.

The cooked grain can be used hot or cold and lasts in the fridge for up to 8 days. I love serving the cooked Freekeh like I would Irish steel-cut oatmeal with a bit of maple syrup or in salads, as I did today.

My favorite salad to make goes like this:

• ½ cooked freekeh
• 2 roasted beets
• ½ cup cooked chickpeas, roasted butternut squash, cooked artichoke hearts, roasted Brussels sprouts
• 2 Tbsp. blue goat cheese crumbles
• 2 Tbsp. Easy Greek Vinaigrette (or store bought)
• Toss everything in a big bowl and enjoy!

Freekeh is 100% natural, with no additives, chemicals, coloring, pesticides/herbicides, GMOs or chemicals.

Cheers,

Veronique