Bulgur Salad

This salad is easily varied according to what vegetables you have on hand. It would be good with carrots, celery, or watercress/other greens, and can be topped with pumpkin or sunflower seeds and/or fresh herbs.

 

Ingredients:

100 g bulgur (or another grain, such as buckwheat)

water

1 fennel

5-7 cherry tomatoes or 2 plum tomatoes

approximately 10 black olives

1 tin sweet corn

1 garlic clove

1-2 tsp mustard

3 tbsp olive oil

1-2 tsp maple syrup or honey

 

Instructions:

1. Cook the bulgur in the water according to directions. Then set it to cool.

2. Wash and dice the fennel and tomatoes. Chop the tomatoes and the olives. Mix all the vegetables with the bulgur.

3. Mince the garlic clove and mix it with the mustard, oil, and maple syrup. Mix the dressing in with the salad.

Hearty Barley and Black-Eyed Pea Stew

As the weather gets chillier, my mind (and my stomach) turns to heartier food. Actually, I made this dish at the very end of August, after a cold weekend in which M and I had gotten drenched in a rain-and-hailstorm. But I’ll be making it again now that it’s even colder.

This was not M’s favourite meal, but it was very healthy and filling.

You can vary this with any grain and any legume and any spice combination and any added vegetable/s; be creative.

Ingredients:
about 100 g black-eyed peas
water
about 150 g pearl barley
about 100 g spinach (fresh or frozen)
tomato purée
green curry paste
olives
soy cream or yogurt

Instructions:
1. Soak the black-eyed peas overnight in water.
2. Boil the barley in water, then leave to simmer for about an hour, checking and stirring every so often (check the instructions on the package as well).
3. Drain the black-eyed peas and then bring them to a boil in fresh water. Leave them to simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes.
4. Add the spinach, tomato purée, and green curry paste to the barley.
5. Slice the olives and add them.
6. Stir the black-eyed peas into the barley, then swirl in some soy cream or yogurt. Serve with another dollop of cream or yogurt.

Lemon Cornmeal Cake

I originally saw a version of this recipe on Epicurious. I love cornmeal, so I wanted to try it out, but adjusted to the ingredients available (I couldn’t get buttermilk at the time I was making this) and the way I like things (i.e. more cornmeal and easy on the sugar, which also means no glaze). This was tasty both served warm with the blueberry sauce (see the next recipe) and the next day served cool without.

Ingredients:
115 g butter
½ cup cornmeal
1½ cups flour
½ cup sugar
4 tsp baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup yogurt
2 eggs
peel from 1 lemon
juice from ½ lemon

Instructions:
1. Melt the butter, then cool.
2. Blend the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
3. Mix the yogurt, eggs, lemon peel, and lemon juice together.
4. Mix the cornmeal mixture with the wet ingredients, then mix in the butter.
5. Bake at 180 C for 30 minutes. Serve with blueberry sauce (see next recipe) or butter, as desired.

Thai Green Curry over Barley

As part of our quest to eat less wheat, I’m trying out new carbohydrates. So I got some pearl barley, which is a lovely, toothsome, gently nutty grain. I decided to use it as a bed for a spicy green curry. It could also be used instead of oats in a heartier porridge, or with beans or chickpeas, but do note that it takes over an hour to cook.

You can choose how much curry paste to add according to your taste. I add some of it to the barley and some of it to curry mixture to create more of an integrated taste, but many people prefer to only add the paste to the curry mixture. The same goes for the coconut milk. You can experiment with how much curry paste and how much coconut milk you use and whether you add those ingredients to the rice/barley/whatever other starch you use or to the protein mixture. You can also vary which protein/s and vegetables you use.

Ingredients:
80 g pearl barley
water
3 carrots
2 courgettes
oil
1 jar green curry paste
100 g spinach
tofu or other protein, as desired (chickpeas would also go well here)
1 tin coconut milk

Instructions:
1. Cook the pearl barley in the water in a pot according to the instructions on the packet. Note that it usually takes over an hour to cook, so start this part of the process in plenty of time, and not just when you are getting hungry.
2. Peel and slice the carrots into coins. When the barley is about 10 minutes from being cooked, add the carrots to it.
3. Slice the courgettes and fry them lightly in the oil. Add a few tablespoons of the curry paste and some of the spinach, and continue frying.
4. Add the rest of the spinach and more curry paste to the barley.
5. Add the tofu or other protein to the frying pan.
6. When the barley and carrots are almost ready and the water has cooked away, pour the coconut milk into the pot. Add more curry paste to taste.
7. Serve the courgette mixture over the barley.