Salads

This salad is made with freekeh, an uncommon heirloom grain that is actually a green spelt berry.

Here, as with all the grains I cook, I pre soak the freekah. This allows the grain to begin the sprouting process thus increasing the nutritional value and making it more digestible.

I make many variations of this salad, sometimes using wheat berries or Emmer in place of the spelt. You could also try making it with hulled barley too.

Traditionally panzanella is made with crisp croutons that soak up all the flavorful juices created by tomatoes, cucumbers and the dressing. It is delicious and please don’t get me wrong I love Panzanella, but prefer to eat this salad with bread or a hearty grain on the side. It’s also extremely fast to make this way and since no oven is needed to make the croutons, it won’t heat up your kitchen.

This is a very simple recipe that yields amazing flavors and is a great appetizer or an ideal accompaniment to a pasta dish, or a roast chicken. The Xérès dressing has a deep and rich flavor that complements the bitter red charred leaves.

Crème fraîche is one of the pillars of French cuisine, rich and creamy yet tangy and light, and an amazing accompaniment to asparagus. These two are made only more glorious with the addition of shaved black truffles. If you are lucky and have access to fresh ones, don’t think twice. As an alternative, jarred truffles from reputable Italian brands like Urbani are delicious and can be just as wonderful. You need not add truffle oil If you are using fresh black truffles.