Spice up your summer salad
There is a plethora of different grains on the market these days which can sometimes become a little overwhelming. I pick the packets up containing exotic sounding grains with such hope and ambition to use them in innovative and exciting ways at home and when the time comes it all becomes too daunting and I cook rice instead. In order to get over this, I’ve decided to venture into the world of complex carbohydrates and enlighten not only you, but myself as to how to use these grains to their full potential.
Buckwheat is a naturally gluten free grain I recently discovered after my adventurous and non-confirmative Aunt turned up with a buckwheat salad on Christmas day last year. Now I can’t say it was the most delicious accompaniment to the turkey roast we had but we were eating the salad’s leftovers for several days afterwards. It is one of the nicest grains I’ve ever had in a salad. With this recipe you should be able to make a salad fit for a filling lunch or as a great pairing to your dinner.
You’ll need:
100g buckwheat
A pinch of salt
1 small red onion
1 red bell pepper, diced
½ a cucumber, seeded and diced
½ cup or 5g finely chopped fresh dill
1/3 cup or 10g finely chopped fresh parsley
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed thoroughly
1 lemon’s juice
60ml extra virgin olive oil, best quality is preferable
1 large garlic clove, finely minced
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon honey
Cook the buckwheat according to packet instructions, often consisting of roasting the grains for five minutes, washing and then boiling them in a pan of water for around 15 minutes. Once tender, drain and set aside to cool. Combine the cooked buckwheat with the rest of the other ingredients. Serve cold.
I’ve been using this recipe for a little while now and it’s great. Versatile with what ever you want to put with it. You don’t have to stick those veggies, I love it with avocado, feta and cherry tomatoes. Make it your own and all of a sudden, those gluten free grains don’t seem so scary any more.
Another great simple gluten free summer salad is this Chickpea, Olive and Red Pepper salad, inspired by our Greek holidays.
