"Brunch for @kotturinn!" - Warm Squash, Feta & Freekeh Salad - My Non-Entry for the SCC!
Is anything more delightful than a sunny brunch by a sunny window... belly full of fresh food and community spirit. I smiled today as I sat there alone... though not alone, because whenever I prepare food mindfully for the purpose of the SCC, I have you all with me - the whole community right here at my table.
The theme for the Steemit Culinary Challenge this week, chosen by guest judge @kotturinn, is "Take Me To Brunch... In Your Country". As host of the challenge I obviously can't enter my own recipes, but there's nothing stopping me cooking! So today I made a really lovely brunch (if I say so myself) for @kotturinn... Warm Squash, Feta & Freekeh Salad served with a pot of green tea, overlooking a lush Irish field full of sheep that look far too woolly for this time of year, poor things! Although the dish isn't typically Irish, most of the ingredients were produced in this country, so I guess that'll have to be good enough to satisfy the 'country' bit of the challenge!
It's a fairly simple salad (as far as my salads go!) but with such gorgeous and complimentary flavours it really is a dish worth making with these exact ingredients. The textures too contribute equally to the overall 'loveliness'! If you knew me you'd know I don't compliment my own cooking unless it really is something special... and trust me this is special. This time I didn't make a dressing because it really didn't need one... the only 'seasonings' I suppose were the fresh apple mint and black pepper, which gave this wonderful delicate 'fresh' finish. It's the only salad recipe I've ever actually written down so I can make it exactly the same way in future!
Ingredients: (makes enough for two)
100g freekeh grain
1/2 butternut squash
50g feta cheese
1/4 red pepper
1/4 green pepper
1/4 orange pepper
Handful baby plum tomatoes
1 red onion
4 cloves garlic
1/4 courgette
1 apple
1 avocado
Handful fresh apple mint leaves
Squeeze fresh lemon
Black pepper to taste
Method:
Slice and dice all the salad vegetables (except squash) and toss together in a bowl, and add a good squeeze of lemon (prevents apple & avocado from browning). Chop the apple mint and add to the bowl. Pop into the fridge whilst you prepare the other ingredients.
Peel and chop the butternut squash into bite-size chunks. Steam for 15-20 minutes until softened.
Put the freekeh grain into a pan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 20 minutes until tender. Drain.
Add the freekeh and butternut squash to the salad bowl and toss gently using a wooden spoon (so as not to squish the squash!) Divide the salad between two shallow salad bowls.
Finally dice the feta cheese and throw on top of the salad, along with a sprinkle of black pepper. Serve with a nice big pot of green tea and enjoy by a sunny window if you can!
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Many thanks.
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All photos in this post are my own original.
Nice! My upvote just bumped you up about $6 USD :-D. Now to upvote all the other entries! Keep up the good work, y'all!
Thanks @matt-a, much appreciated :-)
your pics are getting bettah and bettah lass ;)
Thanks, I appreciate that!
This dish looks full of personality! Yum! Never be afraid to compliment your own recipes, especially when they deserve it, as this one clearly does.
Thank you!!! :-)
Beautiful!!! Great job and great ingredients. I may need to try this one. I'm going to have to substitute zuc for your butternut squash though. I'm going to start bookmarking your recipes to use for all my vegies that are coming in. Thanks.
That's a wonderful compliment, thank you! I am being completely honest when I say this is the tastiest salad I've ever made or eaten, and you won't be sorry if you make it too!!! Zucchini would be fine in place of squash :-)
Hi W-O-W. Yes I get a lot of Zucs out of my garden every year and looking for something else to do with them. I also grow tomatoes, peppers and onions so a lot of the ingredients can come directly from my back yard.
I'm posting this week on kohlrabi and onions so keep an eye out. Thanks.
I will keep an eye, thank you! I was telling my husband earlier today all about your excellent veggie growing posts and how I've finally found a garden guru to follow haha!!! Hopefully after a while of learning I'll be able to eat mostly home-grown too, and that will make me so happy :-)
People like you are my inspiration. It's rewarding helping others.
My suggestion is to start small with things that aren't too difficult to grow and expand from there. Get good soil established and plant in a sunny area. Can't go wrong following those guidelines.
Looks awesome, every time I make Freekeh I keep singing that R&B song tonight baby, am gonna get freaky witchoo lol
Ha ha ha! You make me laugh @meesterboom :-)
:0)
Wow, this looks absolutely delicious, @woman-onthe-wing :D so colorful and healthy! I could not come up with a better place to enjoy this salad but by the window too!
Do you prefer plain green tea or the kind that has any other herbs or flowers added to it?
My favourite green tea at the moment is one with cranberry in it... mmmmm :-) It's funny - since I've been on my weight-loss mission the last couple months I haven't been eating much grains or cheese, so when I had this it actually felt more like comfort food than healthy food, even though it clearly is healthy! Ha ha.
Wow! That's crazy! I always try to think of diet as a way of life, but following this rule is hard! I'm impressed how you can do it!!!
I've never had green tea with cranberries this sounds interesting, the only kind I had before had jasmine in it.
:-) I think the same as you - I don't generally 'diet' because once the diet is over, how to maintain the weight you want? I've been trying to shed extra pounds more quickly the last couple months to get back the figure I had pre-pregnancy, hence avoiding the carbs. Normally I eat complex carbs as part of my diet, just not every day, but now my boy is growing up I've also recently been able to get back into my regular level of exercise (1 hr work-out each morning, 6 mile walk or equivalent activity in afternoon). Also intermittent fasting is kinda my natural pattern of eating... I have my main meal at 7pm, and either a very light lunch or supper (but not both in the same day). I find that's more than enough food to satisfy my hunger and energy needs. So I maintain my weight, figure and health without needing to 'go on a diet' or do anything that requires to be disciplined against my will!!! At least I never eat anything processed, refined or sugary, so I'm pretty healthy thankfully. I hope that all makes sense, I'm a bit tired today and brain function only at half!!!
It sounds like you're killing it! I'm jealous!
I often feel too lazy to exercise, sometimes it just feels easier to skip a meal, I try to not over eat. I'm still in my healthy weight range, but it's not ideal haha. I try to avoid sugar as well, in its pure form anyway, it's been quite a while since I used it, just the other day I ran out of my 4lb package of sugar that I've had for over a year. I mainly use it for baking.
From the photos I've seen of you it looks like you're healthy and have a good figure! Plus I know from your cooking that you don't eat junk, so I reckon you're alright!!! ;-)
That's because I don't post photos of myself eating chips hahaha which happens from time to time!
Thank you for the kind words though! :) I try haha
@woman-onthe-wing, absolutely healthy brunch! very glad to see your cooking again. ^_^
Thank you @helene! I don't have much time to post my recipes at the moment, but I still love cooking!!!
Oh no, now I'm hungry again, what a day...
Ha ha thank you @nezaigor, that's a good compliment! I hope you had something tasty for your dinner!
beautiful dish ! i don't see why you can not take part on the SCC ! definitely this is a top ranked recipe!
Thank you @rouketas! You're too kind!!!