Freekah Show

I've been pampered since Wednesday, with meals, gifts of coloring books, and being chore free. On Saturday, Mama took the kids to the library for hours, where they played computer games, chose books about dinosaurs and in the Magic School Bus series, selected videos, and even chose some books for me. Apparently, Sis marched right up to our favorite librarian, "Excuse me, Miss T, excuse me. I need books about cooking bread." And she came home with four, including two on Laura Ingalls Wilder, Everybody Bakes Bread (and the search for the three-handle rolling pin!), and one by famous Julia Child editor, Judith Jones! Lots of fun for us.

Then they went to a Middle Eastern food restaurant and brought home a wonderful lunch: shawerma for them, amazing tahini-heavy hummus (and a spicy version), smoky and sweet baba ganoush, incredibly crunchy falafel, Syrian rice, mujadara, this thick crisp flatbread, dolmades, olives, and mango nectar. My two new favorites were freekah, a pilaf with freekah/farik (roasted greenwheat), almonds, and peas, as well as a bright red rosewater drink. MMMMMMmmmmmm! We ate leftovers for two delicious days.

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Freekah

This isn't exactly the pilaf from the restaurant, but it's close. And I think I can get freekah from Trader Joe's.

Ingredients500 g freekeh
4 cups 99% fat free chicken broth
1 tsp olive oil
50 g garlic, crushed
25 g fresh rosemary
.5 c chopped onions
.25 c diced or grated carrots
.25 c frozen green peas
.25 c slivered almonds
salt and pepper to taste


DirectionsSweat onions and garlic in olive oil. Add rosemary, and sautee gently. Add broth, freekeh, and carrots. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until tender. Remove from heat, add peas. Let sit while toasting almonds. Plate, and garnish with a few almond slivers. Serves 8.

Number of Servings: 8

from sparkpeople.com