Herby freekeh salad with chickpeas and feta
40 min · 8 g protein · 174 cals / serving
Smoky, chewy freekeh (roasted green wheat) tossed with chickpeas, crunchy cucumber, sweet tomatoes and fistfuls of parsley, mint and dill, dressed with lemon and sumac and finished with feta. It holds up for days, so it is as good packed for lunch as it is beside grilled lamb or chicken.
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked (from 2/3 cup cracked freekeh) freekeh, cooked, cracked freekeh, cooked and cooled
- 1 can (15 oz), drained chickpeas, rinsed
- 1 large cucumber, diced
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes, quartered
- 3 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 1/2 cups leaves fresh parsley, chopped
- 1/2 cup leaves fresh mint, chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped
Dressing
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 2 tsp olive oil, extra virgin
- 1 small clove garlic, grated
- 1 tsp sumac, plus more to finish
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 3/4 tsp salt, divided
Dressing
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/3 cup feta cheese, crumbled
Steps
- Rinse 2/3 cup cracked freekeh, then simmer it in a large pan of water with a pinch of the salt for 15–20 minutes, until tender but still chewy. Drain well, spread it on a tray and let it cool for 10 minutes. You need about 2 cups cooked.
- Put the cooled freekeh in a large bowl with the chickpeas, cucumber, tomatoes, green onions, parsley, mint and dill.
- Whisk the lemon juice, zest, olive oil, garlic, sumac, cumin, the rest of the salt and the pepper in a small bowl, pour it over the salad and toss well.
- Taste for lemon and salt, then scatter over the feta and a final pinch of sumac. Serve at room temperature.
Good to know
Where do I find freekeh, and what can I use instead?
Look near the bulgur and couscous, or in Middle Eastern shops; cracked freekeh cooks fastest. Bulgur is the easiest swap: it is lighter and a little less smoky, at about 70 instead of 66. Cook it the same way, for about 10 minutes.
Is it gluten-free?
No: freekeh is young wheat. For a gluten-free version, use the same weight of cooked quinoa, simmered until the little tails appear, about 15 minutes. It lands at about the same score.
How long does it keep?
Up to 4 days in the fridge. The herbs darken a little after day two but the flavour holds; add the feta just before serving if you want it to stay in neat crumbles.
Per
- Calories
- 80
- Protein
- (18%)
- 4 g
- Fat
- (26%)
- 2 g
- Carbohydrates
- (56%)
- 13 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 3 g
- Sodium
- 194 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 1045 kcal goes into the pot and 1325 g of ingredients comes out as about 1305 g of food: 80 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.