entrees

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.

Traditional Lebanese soups can be light and very liquid or thick and hearty, such Aaddass b’Hammod (lentils with lemon) which is a thick soup of Swiss chard, lentils, potato and green coriander.

I developed this recipe for lemon-infused chicken soup for Wish Magazine few years back when the theme was healthy cooking – a new year, a new you. I added the lemon and fennel (they are very subtle) as a bit of a twist to enhance the basic chicken stock but you can omit them for more of a classic stock if you like. It’s a warming simple soup that will nurture as you make it and as you eat it!

This soup has become a family favorite. I like to start with dried chickpeas when I have time, however this soup is equally delicious and a bit simpler to make with canned chickpeas. Just be sure to use a good brand of chickpeas and read the label to make sure there’s no sugar in the ingredient list. If there is, find another brand!