Freekeh salad with cauliflower, leeks and butterbeans | vegan

This leek, cauliflower and butterbean freekeh salad is a delicious and healthy lunch or dinner that’s suitable for vegans.

This vegan freekeh recipe really makes veg the star of the meal.

Delicious roasted cauliflower, fried leeks and delicious butterbeans are mixed with freekeh, parsley and sumac to create this wonderful vegan freekeh salad.

What is freekeh?

If you haven’t heard of freekeh before then you’re not alone – I only tried it for the first time last year. Freekah is green wheat that’s harvested when it’s still young. It’s then roasted, dried (often in the sun) and cracked. I picked mine up in my local health food shop but I’ve also seen it in the supermarket.

It’s easy to cook – freekeh just needs to be boiled for 15 minutes. You can buy it pre-cooked in microwave sachets to make it even easier.

Freekeh is a great substitute for rice or other grains. It has a deliciously chewy texture and I really love it, especially in this salad.

I prefer to serve this leek, butterbean and roasted cauliflower freekeh salad warm – although it’s lovely cold as well – and it makes a delicious vegetarian or vegan lunch or side dish. I like to serve it with a green salad, hummus and a little pitta bread.

Roasting cauliflower really transforms it into a beautiful food. If your memories of cauliflower consist of overboiled mush perhaps served up in a school canteen then you have to try it roasted – I guarantee it’ll change your mind. Read more about how to cook cauliflower on my other site, Sneaky Veg.

Have you tried freekeh before? What vegan freekeh recipes do you like? Let me know in the comments below.

5 from 1 vote

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Leek, cauliflower and butterbean freekeh salad

This leek, cauliflower and butterbean freekeh salad is a delicious and healthy lunch or dinner that's suitable for vegans.

Course Salad

Cuisine International

Keyword freekeh salad

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 55 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes

Servings 2

Author Cook Veggielicious

Ingredients

• 1 medium cauliflower
• 1-2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 200 g pack of freekeh
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 medium leeks washed and sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic crushed
• 1 400 g tin of butterbeans
• 1 tsp sumac
• Small handful of flatleaf parsley finely chopped
• Salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (fan)/200°C/gas mark 6.

2. Break the cauliflower into florets, drizzle with olive oil and fennel seeds and roast in the oven for 35-40 minutes, stirring half way. 

3. Cook the freekeh according to the packet instructions. Drain when cooked and set aside.

4. When the cauliflower is almost done fry the leeks in olive oil, stirring often, until cooked. Add the crushed garlic and cook for a further minutes. Add the butterbeans, cooked freekeh, roasted cauliflower and chopped parsley. Stir well, season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with sumac before serving.

If you like this you might like these other cauliflower recipes:

• cauliflower hummus
• creamy vegan cauliflower cheese
• parsnip, chickpea and cauliflower korma
• tandoori cauliflower recipe
• lentil and roasted cauliflower pasta sauce
• harissa roasted whole cauliflower

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NB: This recipe originally appeared on sneakyveg.com