There is nothing I like more than coming up with a new salad recipe! Finding the right vegetable and fruit combinations, pairing them with a grain that better suits their flavour, choosing the best protein source that will make the dish nutritionally complete, and lastly, finding the best dressing that will bring all of those elements together. For me, it is a journey like no other, probably because salads are my favourite kind of dish, regardless of the season.
Even though during this time of the year, the selection of vegetables is more limited, mother nature provides us with an array of different winter leaves and citrus fruits that can help boost our immunity and help us keep sickness at bay. This freekeh salad with fennel and orange came as a result of embracing that concept and will showcase the best that winter has to offer.
What is freekeh?
Freekeh, also called “farik” or “frik”, is a name given to whole grain, roasted, unripe durum wheat kernels. The plant is picked while still green and not fully ripe, roasted over a fire to remove the husks and then “rubbed” or threshed to release the young smoky kernels.
Because of this specific production process, it has a particular, unique flavour. Its chewy texture is closest to other wheat forms and varieties like bulgur wheat, farro, sorghum, spelt, etc.
Freekeh is indispensable in North African cuisines as well as in the Middle Eastern region. You can use it as any other grain, it works incredibly well in different dishes such as soups, salads, pilafs, stir-fries or risottos. Besides its fantastic flavour, freekeh is a valuable addition to our diet. You can find more about its nutritional value under “Nutrition” below.
Other ingredients you will need to make this freekeh salad:
Fennel bulb: Very versatile plant from the carrot family that can be eaten raw or cooked. When raw, it has a stronger anise flavour, which, when cooked, gets toned down a bit as it becomes sweeter. Today, we’ll be using it raw, and I will share my favourite way of making it an extra crunchy addition to your salad.
Rocket: Rocket is one of my favourite leafy greens! You can pair it with almost everything.
The recognisable spicy and peppery taste comes from plant compounds being researched for cancer prevention, and therapy, so peppery is good!
Radicchio: A type of leafy chicory known for its red leaves and white veins. It is also peppery and slightly more bitter than rocket. I will use it raw in this freekeh salad, but it can also be pan-seared or roasted, making it sweeter and milder in taste.
Orange: To contrast these bitter leaves, I’ve added sweet and refreshing orange. I will show you how to segment the orange later in the text, while the juice will be the essence of this salad dressing.
Pomegranate seeds: These little antioxidant bombs will add sweetness and freshness to the salad, together with a crunchy texture! I would always prefer you to buy a whole pomegranate and clean it at home (which I will show you how to do easily). However, you can get them cleaned and portioned out if you are on a tight schedule.
Goat cheese: There is a great variety of goat cheeses, from soft (young) to hard (aged) ones and sweeter to tangier ones. In this case, I chose a semi-soft cheese with a sweet and tangy taste which can be crumbled over the top, but if you prefer those aged ones, they can be grated to incorporate well with the rest of the ingredients.
Mustard: For this winter salad dressing, I’m using two types of mustard: Dijon and wholegrain. Dijon mustard gives a unique pungency to the dressing, balancing the sweet components inside. In contrast, the milder, wholegrain mustard provides an interesting grainy texture.
Rice vinegar: It is not as commonly used in western cuisines as, for example, apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar, but what I like about it is its milder acidity and complexity. I’ve tried this recipe also using apple cider vinegar, but I found that the taste is more refined when using the first option.
Honey: Honey comes as a perfect contrast to mustard and vinegar and a great accompaniment to the sweet orange. Apart from its taste, it helps give the dressing a better consistency and texture. Choose a type of honey you like, but multi-floral ones are a good, all-rounded option.
Olive oil: The final touch to the simple vinaigrette we are making today is olive oil. You can go for various plant oils like canola, sunflower, etc., but for me, the absolute winner is a spicy, grassy extra virgin olive oil.
How to make this freekeh salad?
This is a super simple winter salad option for one of those lazy days when you don’t feel like spending too much time in the kitchen but still want to prepare a nourishing homemade meal. After cooking the freekeh and segmenting the orange, all you are left with is washing, cutting and mixing the rest of the ingredients. And in case you have freekeh leftovers in the fridge, it literally takes you 15 minutes to prepare this salad recipe.
How to cook freekeh?
You can find freekeh in the stores, either whole or cracked. It is basically the same product, and both are considered whole-grain, but in the cracked one, whole kernels have been cut into smaller pieces. For that same reason, cracked freekeh will cook much faster than the whole version.
Cooking freekeh is pretty straightforward. Weigh out freekeh and rinse it under cold running water before cooking it. Place it into a suitable pot, together with water. When it comes to a boil, lower the heat, salt it lightly and cover it with a lid. Cook freekeh on a light simmer until it is tender but still keeps its characteristic chewy texture.
For whole freekeh: use a ratio of water to freekeh of 3:1, and cook it for 30-35 minutes.
For cracked freekeh: use a ratio of 2:1, water to freekeh and cook for 15-20 minutes.
After the freekeh is cooked, leave it covered for another 5 minutes, like other grains and pseudo-grains such as quinoa, rice, bulgur, etc. It will allow it to preserve all the residual heat, finish cooking and stay moist. Since the kernels tend to stick together, puff it up with a fork before adding it to the salad.
How to cut fennel bulbs?
When eaten raw, I like fennel to be extremely thin; it infuses the dressing much better and combines with the rest of the ingredients more easily. To enjoy fennel raw, we will be slicing it crosswise, starting from the top (leaves) and moving closer to the roots. To get thin, even slices (1-2 mm thickness), a mandoline will come in handy. First, set the desired thickness on your mandoline. Cut the green stalks off the bulb. Hold the fennel from the bottom and start slicing it.
To make the fennel extra crunchy, place it in a bowl of icy water for a few minutes. Don’t let fennel sit too long outside; it is prone to oxidise, changing colour from white to brownish.
How to segment an orange?
For a beautifully segmented orange, you will need a sharp knife. Start by cutting off the top and the bottom (1). Place the orange so that it sits on one of the cut sides. Then, using a knife, remove the peel following the natural curve of the orange sides, taking off both the pith and the thin, white membrane surrounding each segment (2). Continue rotating and repeating the same process until no skin is left, trying to remove as little flesh as possible.
Then, take the peeled orange in your hand and start cutting each individual segment, following the white membrane separating them, making sure it stays attached to the centre (3). I would advise you to do it over a bowl to collect all the juices. In the end, all you will be left with is the core and the flappy membranes you have hopefully left attached to it. There you have it, your clean, sweet and beautiful orange segments ready to be added to your freekeh salad (4). This video might help you in your quest to segment an orange.
How to cut a pomegranate?
I was surprised to find out that I was cutting pomegranate the wrong way for almost my whole life! Are you cutting it in half crosswise and damaging those perfect seeds, or smashing it with a spoon hoping the seeds will start falling out? Sorry to break it to you, but none of those methods works.
The way you get pomegranate seeds whole and intact is by doing this:
Make six shallow incisions with a knife around the bottom of the pomegranate so that you are left with a hexagonal shape (1). Pull out from the crown and remove it (2). Now, you will reveal the inside structure of your pomegranate and see that it is actually divided into a few wider compartments, all separated by white, thin membranes. Following those separations, score the peel lengthwise, making sure not to cut all the way to the top so that everything stays together in a flower-like shape (3). Separate the compartments by gently pulling them apart (4). Pull out the white core from the middle (5), separate as many compartments as you need (6) and collect the seeds in a bowl. Voilà, you’ve learned how to clean a pomegranate in the most effective way. For more visual help, check this out.
How to make honey mustard dressing?
The most challenging part when making a dressing is balancing the tastes, but the rest is pretty simple. There is only one important rule to this salad dressing: the order in which you add your ingredients.
So, start by whisking up honey, dijon, wholegrain mustard, and rice vinegar. Add the orange juice and continue whisking until you have an even consistency. In the end, add the olive oil, little by little, to prevent the dressing from splitting. If your dressing separates, you can bring it back by whisking it vigorously for a few seconds.
What can you substitute the missing ingredients with?
Freekeh: Even though, as I previously mentioned, freekeh is more challenging to substitute due to its specific flavour profile, the best options with a similar texture to freekeh would be bulgur, spelt or barley as a non-wheat option.
Rocket and radicchio: As for the leafy vegetables in this freekeh salad, you are more than welcome to add your preferred choice. Luckily, this time of the year, you have a lot of options, to name only a few: watercress, white chicory, lambs lettuce, etc.
Orange: Why not try clementines or blood oranges instead for another interesting twist? If you want to reduce the sugar content, you can also use grapefruit. You can segment them the same way you would any other citrus fruit.
