Ok so we may have gone a little grain mad here but we just love grains. The premise behind this salad was to use grains in combination to create a balance or textures and flavours to keep your mouth entertained in between tasting all the other lovely things we have thrown into this bowl. We feel it is important that when you eat healthily you enjoy what you're eating and that it satisfies your hunger. After all there isn't much point in eating a bowl of leafy greens to find your tummy growling away as you dash to the local shop for a packet of crisps and a bar of chocolate. This salad should leave you feeling satisfied, with a big smug grin on your face, for having both had a healthy meal and a delicious one. So delicious you'll be tempted to go back for more and undo all of your hard work!
So this "We ❤ Grains" salad really is about the grains. We have gone for a combination of bulgar, farro and barley. You should be able to find all of these in your local supermarket and as they are dried, whatever you don't use can be stored for a long time.
Ingredients:
Serves 2
Well it may be another lengthy list but this one is worth it, trust us. I think the easiest way to tell you how to make this is in sections, so here we go...
Grains
Add the bulgur to 750ml of boiling stock and cook for 15 minutes.
Once you reach the 15 minute mark add in the farro and barley and continue to cook for another 10 minutes, topping up the water slowly if it begins to boil dry.
Remove from the heat, drain any excess fluid and set to one side.
Vegetables
While the grains are cooking cut the courgette into 5cm blocks, turn them on their end and slice them into thin strips. Crack the egg into a bowl, add a small splash of milk and beat the mixture. On a plate or shallow bowl mix the parmesan, breadcrumbs, cornflour and season generously. Now take the courgette slices, dip them in the egg mix, coat them with the breadcrumb mix and then transfer them to a pan and shallow fry until golden on both sides, this should take around 2 minutes on each side. Remove them from the pan and set aside.
With the breaded courgettes finished, slice the red pepper and avocado into strips, the tomatoes in half, the artichoke hearts in quarters and the cucumber into small chunks.
*Pickled radish can be bought or you can make your own by slicing radishes thinly and soaking in white wine vinegar and salt. These are important to the dish and it is the only source of vinegar.
Seeds
Lightly toast the seeds of your choice in a dry pan until they begin to turn golden, keep a watchful eye on them though as they will turn very quickly.
Halloumi
Judging by the fact you are reading this, you've probably eaten halloumi before. But for those of you who haven't it is very easy to cook, simply slice the block width ways into 1 to 2cm slices and place in a very hot dry griddle pan and sear for roughly 2 minutes on each side. Do this last minute, if left to cool the halloumi will go stiff and looses a lot of its mojo.
Assembly
The grains go first, followed by layers of...
Cucumber
Red pepper
Tomatoes
Artichokes
Avocado
Pickled radish
Bread-crumbed courgette
Olives
Halloumi
Seeds
Parsley
Olive oil
We hope you enjoyed this recipe, let me know what your take on this was and if you made any changes below. Thanks for reading!
So this "We ❤ Grains" salad really is about the grains. We have gone for a combination of bulgar, farro and barley. You should be able to find all of these in your local supermarket and as they are dried, whatever you don't use can be stored for a long time.
Ingredients:
- 50g Barley
- 50g Farro
- 100g Bulgar
- Assortment of seeds (sunflower, sesame, pine nuts, hemp)
- Vegetable stock
- 1/2 Red pepper
- 1/2 Courgette
- 3 Pickled radishes
- 2 Artichoke hearts
- Mixed olives
- 1/2 Avocado
- A handful of cherry tomatoes
- 1/4 Cucumber
- 1/2 Block of halloumi
- Pinch of parsley
- Olive oil
- 1 Egg
- Breadcrumbs
- Handful of vegetarian Parmesan
- 1 Tablespoon of cornflour
Serves 2
Well it may be another lengthy list but this one is worth it, trust us. I think the easiest way to tell you how to make this is in sections, so here we go...
Grains
Add the bulgur to 750ml of boiling stock and cook for 15 minutes.
Once you reach the 15 minute mark add in the farro and barley and continue to cook for another 10 minutes, topping up the water slowly if it begins to boil dry.
Remove from the heat, drain any excess fluid and set to one side.
Vegetables
While the grains are cooking cut the courgette into 5cm blocks, turn them on their end and slice them into thin strips. Crack the egg into a bowl, add a small splash of milk and beat the mixture. On a plate or shallow bowl mix the parmesan, breadcrumbs, cornflour and season generously. Now take the courgette slices, dip them in the egg mix, coat them with the breadcrumb mix and then transfer them to a pan and shallow fry until golden on both sides, this should take around 2 minutes on each side. Remove them from the pan and set aside.
With the breaded courgettes finished, slice the red pepper and avocado into strips, the tomatoes in half, the artichoke hearts in quarters and the cucumber into small chunks.
*Pickled radish can be bought or you can make your own by slicing radishes thinly and soaking in white wine vinegar and salt. These are important to the dish and it is the only source of vinegar.
Seeds
Lightly toast the seeds of your choice in a dry pan until they begin to turn golden, keep a watchful eye on them though as they will turn very quickly.
Halloumi
Judging by the fact you are reading this, you've probably eaten halloumi before. But for those of you who haven't it is very easy to cook, simply slice the block width ways into 1 to 2cm slices and place in a very hot dry griddle pan and sear for roughly 2 minutes on each side. Do this last minute, if left to cool the halloumi will go stiff and looses a lot of its mojo.
Assembly
The grains go first, followed by layers of...
Cucumber
Red pepper
Tomatoes
Artichokes
Avocado
Pickled radish
Bread-crumbed courgette
Olives
Halloumi
Seeds
Parsley
Olive oil
We hope you enjoyed this recipe, let me know what your take on this was and if you made any changes below. Thanks for reading!