Spring freekeh

It doesn't feel much like Spring today, although it should be nearly Summer already - this is Memorial Day weekend, it'll be June in a week. The air is thick with drizzle, and it's chilly although still very humid. Yum. Anyway, it's supposed to clear up by tomorrow lunchtime. And a little bit of mizzle wasn't going to stop me biking a crate full of tomato plants around town this morning, or making food that tastes of Spring.

I have really warmed to freekeh. It's like a more green-coloured version of bulghur wheat, and it tastes green: a little like the grass I used to chew on as a kid. So, I have decided it is much more interesting than bulghur. I have also decided it goes brilliantly with other green-looking and green-tasting things: peas, broad beans, courgette, pumpkin seeds, mint, chives... I thought my chives were dead after the winter but they resurrected, and are looking wonderfully green and healthy. The mint isn't doing too badly either.

I'm not sure what this is: sort of a salad, sort of a pilaf. Makes enough for 2-4, depending how hungry you are and how much else you've got going on.

1 cup freekeh (or bulghur, or wheatberries)
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 small courgette, thinly sliced
1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas
1/2 cup fresh or frozen broad beans
1-2 tbsp chopped mint
1-2 tbsp chopped chives
1-2 tbsp pumpkin seeds, toasted
1 tbsp dandelion leek miso
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp white balsamic vinegar (or lemon juice)
salt+pepper (maybe)

Put the freekeh in a small pan with ~ 2 cups of water and 1 tbsp olive oil. Boil until freekeh is tender and the liquid has almost all evaporated. Add the sliced courgette, peas and broad beans (may need to add these a little earlier if they are big) and cook for a few minutes more, just until everything is tender and the liquid is gone.

In the bottom of a serving bowl, mix the miso, EVOO and white balsamic vinegar. Add the freekeh-veg mixture and mix well together. Set aside and allow to cool until at least warm, ideally cool (so that the herbs stay bright green when you add them). Add the chives, mint and pumpkin seeds and mix it up. Taste to check if it needs any salt and pepper.