This salad incorporates many of the traditional Tu Bishvat foods and is a delicious combination of textures and fresh, sweet and savoury flavours. It stands alone for a vegetarian and dairy free lunch or as a side dish. I prefer Achva tahini - it is worth looking beyond the supermarkets for your favourite brand. And if you can't find freekeh, use bulgar wheat or pearl barley instead.
Serves: 4-6
Preparation: 30 minutes
Cooking: 20 minutes plus pre-cooking of freekeh and lentils
Ingredients
● 150g freekeh, cooked according to the packet's instructions and cooled
● 150g puy lentils cooked, rinsed and cooled
● 1 tsp salt
● 1 tsp ground cumin
● 1 tbsp lemon juice
● 3 tbsp olive oil
● 25g flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
● 15g fresh mint, finely chopped
● 100g mix of dried dates, raisins and figs, chopped small
For the onions
● 2 tbsp sunflower oil
● 2 medium onions, thinly sliced in half moons
● ½ tsp salt
For the tahini dressing
● 1 medium clove of garlic, crushed
● 80g tahini
● 1 tsp honey
● ½ tsp pomegranate molasses
● ¼ tsp salt
● 1 tbsp lemon juice
● ½ tsp cumin
● 50ml water
● To serve; the seeds from half a fresh pomegranate
Method
● Heat the sunflower oil over a low heat in a heavy pan with a lid. Add the salt and onions and cook gently, covered, for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally until soft and collapsed.
● Remove lid, increase heat slightly and continue to cook for 10 more minutes or until the onions are caramelised. Cool.
● In a large bowl combine cooked lentils, freekeh, salt, cumin, lemon juice, olive oil, onions, dried fruit and herbs. Check and adjust seasoning.
● To make the tahini dressing: combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir until smooth adding water if necessary. It should be thick enough not to soak into the salad completely.
● Transfer the salad to a serving plate, place generous spoonfuls of tahini dressing over the top and swirl in slightly.
● Serve scattered with pomegranate seeds.
Michelle Eshkeri is at www.lavenderbakery.co.uk
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