I have a new Kitchen Nomad box on the way (excuse me while I let out a little squeal of excitement!) but last night, we headed back to Lebanon and tried out the recipe for Freekeh, Date and Apple Salad with Za'atar Crusted Sea Bass. Sea Bass isn't a fish we eat (not that I wouldn't want to, but I've never seen it at our regular supermarket) so I decided to substitute it for a different type of fish.
The recipe (that you can see on the Kitchen Nomad website) calls for three ingredients from the Lebanon Kitchen Nomad box - Freekeh, Dates and Za'atar.
I also needed some fresh mint so I was very pleased to see that our mint plant, which didn't cope well with our month neglecting it over the summer while we were travelling, seems to be springing back to life !
The Freekeh is a grain that I had never heard of before. Kitchen Nomad explain : "The new ‘must have’ ingredient is the ancient, early-harvest green grain called Freekeh, which has been eaten by Middle Eastern people for thousands of years. It has a nutty and slightly squeaky texture, is high in fibre, minerals and vitamins, and has a wonderful earthy flavour."
The dates come from Crazy Jack and they are beautifully soft, sticky and plump, unlike the dried out, wooden things we often get in our Christmas dried fruit platters ! I love the fact that they already have the stones removed too.
We had a lovely piece of salmon in the freezer.
I drizzled over some olive oil and a generous sprinkiling of za'atar.
Once cooked, the freekeh stays quite firm and chewy - it reminds me a bit of Ebly. It has a lovely nutty flavour.
I wasn't sure about the combination of ingredients in the salad but it was absolutely delicious. The flavours but also the textures really worked well together - the chewy dates, the crunchy apple, the firm grains ...
We still have a couple of recipes to go but it's great discovering Lebanese cuisine, which we knew so little about.
Disclosure : I received a Kitchen Nomad box in order to write an honest review.
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I absolutely love Lebanese food but never really ate any fish dishes. Your recipe looks yum though. I wish I could get some salmon here. Unfortunately is nit as easy to find and quite expensive.
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