Freekeh Salad, Cold Soaked
Smoky cracked wheat soaked in lemon and oil, with dried vegetables standing in for the fresh ones.
- calories
- 610
- weight
- 5 oz
- cal / oz
- 122
- protein
- 16 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 5 min
- water
- 300 ml cold
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Lunch
- Dinner
- Cold soak
- No cook
- Backpacking
- Bikepacking
- Basecamp
- Day hike
- Vegetarian
- Eat in the bag
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Cracked freekeh | 3/4 cup | cracked, not whole grain, or it stays gravel |
|---|---|---|
| Dried tomatoes | 2 tbsp | chopped small so they rehydrate with the grain |
| Dried cucumber or dried zucchini slices | 2 tbsp | |
| Dried minced onion | 1 tbsp | |
| Dried parsley and mint | 1 tbsp total | |
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp | dropper bottle |
| Lemon juice powder or crystallized lemon | 1 tbsp | stands in for two fresh lemons and the zest |
| Sea salt and black pepper | 1/2 tsp total | |
| Dried cranberries | 2 tbsp | in place of pomegranate seeds |
| Toasted pistachios | 2 tbsp | |
| Freeze-dried feta or hard feta wedge | 1 oz |
Method
- Pour the dry mix into your soak jar and add 300 ml of cold water. Stir once so nothing is packed dry at the bottom.
- Seal it and let it sit at least 2 hours. Four is better. Freekeh is stubborn.
- Check for a stray puddle of water. If there is one, drain it off before dressing.
- Add the oil and shake. The grain drinks it.
- Crumble in the feta and pistachios last so they stay separate from the rest.
Freekeh is green wheat, roasted, so it already tastes a little burnt in a good way. That smoke is the whole reason to carry it instead of couscous. The cost is time: cracked freekeh needs a couple of hours cold, which means you start it at the morning break and eat it at the pass.
The original is a fridge salad built on cucumber, tomato, and two lemons. None of that travels. Dried vegetables rehydrate in the same water as the grain, and lemon powder does the acid work without the weight or the leak risk. Oil goes in after the soak, not before, because fat coating dry grain slows the water down. Feta is the one perishable left, and a wedge of the hard brined kind holds a couple of days out of a cooler if it stays sealed.
Packing
Everything dry except oil, feta, and nuts goes in one jar or bag. Oil in a leakproof bottle. Nuts go in last at camp or they soften.
Variations
- Skip the feta and it is vegan. Add another tablespoon of oil to replace the fat.
- A foil packet of tuna turns it into a full dinner for another 20 g of protein.
- Bulgur soaks faster if you want lunch in under an hour.
https://blog.9jakitchen.com/freekeh-salad-healthy-mediterranean-recipe