Middle Eastern Barley and Brown Lentil Salad

 I've been trying to keep a balance between sweet and savoury recipes on the blog to give you a bit of variety. It's so easy to post desserts because they always look so pretty for the camera and it always seems to be more of an experiment to make otherwise sugary, floury, buttery recipes a bit healthier.

Today I'm giving you the 'B Salad'- Brown lentil, Barley and Broccoli (plus a few other letters of the alphabet chucked in there.) This salad has a bit of a Middle Eastern feel to it with the dried fruit, pomegranate molasses and spices.
This salad acts as a whole meal in itself. It covers all bases- a protein, something crunchy, something sweet, something sour and something green! 

The Ingredients:
*this is really a 'do-it-how-you-like' kind of salad. Find what you have in the fridge and pantry and go wild. If you cover the bases i mentioned before, you'll probably nail it*

1 cup cooked barley, cooled
1 400g tin brown lentils or 1 cup fresh green or brown lentils- boiled and cooled
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp sumac
2 tsp ground cumin
1 bunch parsley finely chopped
1 bunch mint finely chopped
1/4 cup sultanas or currants
 Half a broccoli- florets cut small and blanched
7-8 sugar snap peas cut small
1 big handful baby spinach leaves salt and pepper to taste
juice of one big, juicy lemon
big drizzle pomegranate molasses
good drizzle olive oil  (good applies to the drizzle and the oil)
1/4 cup pumpkin and sesame seeds toasted

 Bring 1 cup of barley in about 2 cups of water to the boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until soft, but firm. You still want the barley to hold a nice texture in the salad. Drain any excess water and rinse under cold water to cool. Do the same with your lentils if using fresh.
Combine the barley and lentils in a large bowl with the spices, herbs and sultanas.
Place the brocoli in boiling water for about 30 seconds and transfer in to ice water to stop the cooking process. Add broccoli to the salad with sugar snap peas and spinach.
Add lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper.
Give the salad a good drizzle of pomegranate molasses and toss well.
Sprinkle with toasted seeds and serve!

Halfway through enjoying my salad I forgot that i wanted to add soft goats cheese. If you're keen. Try this salad with some goats cheese or feta!

YUM!

Green Goodness in a Glass

I'm not gonna lie. I am one to follow food trends. Why do you think i have a food blog?
So to celebrate all things food-trendy I am going to get this one out of my system and post the damn Green Smoothie.

Why?
Well, it shot so well on  the camera and to tell you the truth i do actually drink these for  about 4 out 7 of my breakfasts in the week.They're yummy, energising, quick to make and, well, pretty nutritious.
Smoothies are one of those foods that, while I'm sipping away, i wish it would never end.

1 Big Glass Full of Green Goodness:

1 Green Apple

2 Beetroot Leaves

2-3 Kale Leaves

1/2 Small Avocado

Ice cubes

Lots of Cinnamon

5 cm Piece of Cucumber

Milk of choice (rice, almond, soy, coconut water or just water.)

 Blend well and enjoy slowly. You can top it with oats or anything crunchy is you're feeling adventurous. Mine has popped amaranth and goji berries.

Happy Sipping!

Recycling Soup Pulp

Waste not want not.

Here a some helpful ideas on how to use your left over pulp from soups/veggie juices etc.

After Cook Club a few week ago, Cal and I had a large amount of pulp left from our Spring pea and mint soup. There was so much green-goodness in that pulp that we didn't want to just throw it away!

Freeze your pulp until you're ready to use it! Otherwise it will sit in your fridge and it WILL go off. Wait for that inspiration.

My first batch of pulp.

Spelt Flour Bread Rolls
400g spelt flour
100g strong wheat flour
1/2 tbs instant yeast
1/2 tbs salt
1tbs olive oil
150ml warm water (you may need more)
200g soup pulp (my pulp was quite moist. If you're using juice pulp, that's usually quite dry so  you might need to add morel liquid)
Pumpkin and sunflower seeds for the top

*makes about 15 muffin-sized rolls*

If you've got a mixer with a dough hook (i don't) then use it! Combine all ingredients and knead for 10-15 minutes. You may need to knead a little longer if you're doing it by hand.
You may need to add more liquid or more flour depending if your dough is too dry or too wet.
Place in a lightly oiled bowl and leave to double in size- about an hour.
Knock back the dough and roll in to small balls and into a greased muffin tin. If you don't have one you could make a loaf or just put the balls on a tray. They will keep their shape.
Paint the tops with a bit of milk and sprinkle some seeds.
Bake in 180 degree oven for 15-20mins.

Serve with good butter and ANOTHER soup!

 The second batch of pulp i used was for a simple recipe!

Stuffed Filo Parcels with Goats Cheese
Filo pastry
Good quality butter
Goats cheese
Soup pulp
Poppy seeds

Defrost your soup pulp and heat it through on the stove. If you want, you can add to your pulp.
Layer 4-5 sheets of filo pastry, painted with melted butter in between each sheet.
Cut the filo in to 4 pieces and drop a big spoonful of the pulp in to the centre of each square. Add a teaspoon or so of goats cheese. Pain two edges with butter and fold over the other corner in to a triangle to seal. Give the pastries a little brush with milk, sprinkle with poppy seeds and bake in the oven on 180 degrees for about 20 minutes.

Anything tastes good in pastry! Serve these with a simple salad and some steamed greens. Or whatever inspires you!

Besides from these recipes, you could make burger patties, mix the pulp in with a pie, make a quiche, fritatta, pasta sauce or another soup! Use your imagination and you won't waste a thing!