You know how people sometimes say that the little things are the big things? Well I’m a big believer that little things can make a huge difference when it comes to recipes.
Take garlic for instance: Use too much of it and it totally kills the dish for me (and the entire 24 hours afterwards when I’m burping up garlic!), don’t use any and it might taste like it’s missing something. Another good example is herbs: Using fresh ones can make all the difference in the world, and you don’t even need to use a lot to make it pop in a dish, because herbs are fragrant and awesome in tiny quantities.
My garden bed of herbs
Two of my favorite herbs are basil and mint. I use basil all the time because it’s fabulous in so many dishes, and mint is great for an extra flavor oomph when paired with the right ingredients.
The dish that I’m sharing today exemplifies just what I mean about the little things going a long way in recipes: a drizzle of high-quality olive oil, a bit of fresh lemon juice, just enough salt and pepper, and just a tablespoon of chopped fresh mint to give this salad lots of flavor.
When Fit Approach partnered with Freekeh Foods to collaborate with some bloggers like myself to come up with recipes incorporating freekeh, I was interested because I had never even heard of freekeh before.
Last weekend I put my creative food blogger hat on to cook freekeh for the first time and come up with a fun dish, which wound up being a healthy recipe with a Mediterranean flair:
The main ingredients of this dish are artichoke hearts, feta cheese, ripe tomato, garbanzo beans – which I roasted to make them nice and crunchy – and of course, freekeh. 
I found freekeh to be slightly nutty, but mostly kind of light and neutral in flavor. Freekeh strikes me as the type of food that tastes like whatever you pair it with, and I love chickpeas. And feta. And tomato. And olive oil. And mint. And artichoke hearts… so naturally I enjoyed this dish! 
Are you interested in trying out freekeh for yourself? I’m giving away a package of freekeh to one reader! To enter you can:
- Leave a comment below telling me which freekah flavor you’d like to most try: original, rosemary sage, or tamari.
- Follow @freekehfoods on Twitter
- Follow @freekehfoods on Instagram
- Like @freekehfoods on Facebook
- Tweet about the giveaway using the hashtags #LoveFreekeh #Freekeh, or retweet one of my tweets about the giveaway
Be sure to leave a separate comment to let me know of each way that you enter. I’ll randomly choose a winner on Sept. 7th. This contest is open to U.S. residents only.
Mediterranean Freekeh Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cup dry freekeh
- 1-14 oz can of garbanzo beans
- 1 large tomato chopped (about 1/2 cup)
- 3 oz crumbled feta cheese
- 6 artichoke heart pieces 2/3 of a 14 oz can
- 1 TBSP freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil divided
- 1 TBSP fresh mint chopped
- 1/2 TSP paprika
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Cook freekeh according to package directions. Once cooked, season with salt and keep warm until ready to mix with other ingredients.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Drain chickpeas, and place in a bowl. Drizzle 1 TBSP of olive oil over beans, and season with 1/4 TSP salt and paprika + 1/8 tsp pepper. Toss to combine, and bake for about 20 minutes, or until lightly browned. Use a spatula to flip the beans over, season with another 1/4 TSP of salt and paprika, then cook until crispy to your liking.
- Chop the tomato, mint and artichoke hearts. Place in a large bowl, and add in the freekeh. Drizzle the fresh lemon juice and remaining 1 TBSP of olive oil in. Add in the crispy chickpeas, and season with more salt and pepper to taste. Mix together well, and pour into a serving dish.
Nutrition
Tell me… Have you ever tried freekeh before?
This looks so yummy, Nicole! Can’t wait to try :). Pinned!
Thanks, Annie! Hope that you try the recipe out.
This looks so good! I’d like to try the Rosemary freekeh.
I have been trying to get my hands on freekeh for so long now! haha I can never find it at my local stores (and am too lazy to order it online lol)! This salad looks fantastic! And I so agree – fresh herbs are amazing! 🙂
That’s me with farro – every time I get the urge to try making something creative with it, I can’t find it at whatever store I’m at!
This looks amazing!! …and I love that!! It’s really true! Little things can make a HUGE difference when it comes to cooking and recipes! Thanks for sharing girl! 🙂
Thanks, Cailee! Definitely, throwing in a bit of a few ingredients can make all the difference in the flavors in the dish.
It’s amazing what fresh herbs and a little bit of garlic can do for a recipe! This one looks scrumptious! And I’ve never tried freekah but it sounds like it’s right up my alley!
I totally think you’d enjoy freekeh, Sarah!
You see, I am one of those crazy people that thinks that there is no such thing as too much garlic. I would bathe in the stuff haha.
I bought freekah for the first time the other day and I can’t wait to try it out.
Haaaa! Oh my gosh, you would LOVE the garlic festival that they have in Gilroy, CA – which is know as the garlic capital of America. When I lived up the area I literally could smell garlic when I walked out of my apartment for weeks leading up to the event… and I didn’t even live in Gilroy!!
I wanna try tamari, and this salad sounds great!
Freekah sounds great! I have never heard of it but i’ll look for it in my local grocery store. And soo jealous of your homegrown herbs! They look so tasty and fresh
Thank you, Beverley! I’m throughly enjoying my fresh herbs and love being able to walk outside to cut off a few snippets of basil for a meal.
This dish is right up my alley! I have never tried freekah before but I have a feeling that I would like it!
Never heard of this freekeh…I think it sounds like one of those things that I could NOT like if it there weren’t enough flavors added to it…YOUR recipe sounds good though!!
I can’t wait till we can have a garden and grow our own herbs!
I’d love to try the rosemary sage!
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I keep seeing freekah and I need to remember to actually go get it! I had some a while ago in ATL. I love the chew! Great recipe too; artichokes are the best.
Rosemary sage sounds amazing to me!
I’ve never tried freekah before but it looks delicious!! I would probably try to original first so I could be more creative with my recipes 🙂
I would like to try the Original flavored freekeh.