Golden grains that can be served cold, hot or in between
Something about a grain salad always helps me bridge the seasons. Like lighter soups, they fill me up without weighing me down, and they can usually be served cold, hot or in between.
My favorite grains for such salads are the heartier ones: brown or wild rice, barley, farro. For these salads, I want something I can sink my teeth into, which rules out fluffy couscous and flyaway quinoa. But I also appreciate something quick-cooking, which is where broken grains come in. I’m thinking coarse bulgur and, when I can find it, freekeh.
Freekeh is a grain with an interesting backstory, a legend involving a long-ago fire that burned still-green wheat in the Middle East. I’ve seen some accounts peg it to an act of war, while Roxana Jullapat, in her gorgeous book “Mother Grains,” pins it on two neighboring farmers caught in a dispute. Whatever the truth is, the important part of the story is that the grains were discovered to be still edible once the outer burned part was removed.
And not just edible: Pardon the wordplay, but freekeh is freaking delicious, with a slightly chewy texture and a subtly smoky flavor. It also cooks in just 15 minutes or so, which makes it suitable for last-minute dinner planning. Jullapat’s recipe pairs it with blanched sugar snap peas, raw baby spinach leaves and quickly sauteed leeks and mushrooms, bound in a simple lemon vinaigrette.
She serves the salad cold in the deli case of her Los Angeles restaurant Friends & Family, but I devoured it at room temperature – and can imagine warming it through in a skillet or the microwave as the days tilt harder toward winter.