Cremini Mushroom Freekeh

Cremini Mushroom Freekeh

I try to stay faithful to Meatless Mondays and that’s a bit easier when I can incorporate “meaty” mushrooms to my recipes. This is one of my “not really a recipe” recipe that takes very little effort to make and is pretty darn tasty.

I use freekeh from Freekehlicious, the leading importer of Greenwheat Freekeh, a product of Australia and toss it with some slowly sautéed Cremini mushrooms. Yes, you could totally make this with regular button mushrooms, but I like the beefiness of Cremini. I’ve also topped this dish with some grated Parmesan and it was delish.

Ingredients:

  • 1½ cups vegetable broth (could use water or chicken or beef broth)
  • ½ cup freekeh
  • 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
  • 1½ pounds small Cremini mushrooms (or large ones cut in half)
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
  • 3 Tbsp. soy sauce
  • 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh sage
  • 1/4 tsp. each salt and pepper
  • ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions:

  1. In a small saucepan over high heat, bring the broth to a boil. Add the freekeh, stir, turn the heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes (or follow package directions). Turn the heat off, keep the lid on and allow to sit for 5 minutes.
  2. Warm the oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat then add the mushrooms. Cook for about 10 minutes, tossing frequently, until the mushrooms are browned and softened. Add the garlic to the mushrooms and cook for a minute. Add the Worcestershire sauce, the soy sauce, the sage and the salt & pepper and cook for another minute, tossing the mushrooms in the “sauce” to coat.
  3. Add the cooked freekeh to the mushrooms and toss to combine.
  4. If using, top the freekeh/mushroom mixture with the parmesan.

Yields two servings.

Getting Freekeh on Meatless Monday

As I did in 2015, I’ll be continuing with my mission to go meatless on Mondays. It’s been rather easy to make the change as I love roasting a whole bunch of veggies on Sundays that I then use on Mondays in salads with couscous, quinoa or freekeh.

For those not familiar with freekeh, it’s an ancient grain that has long been recognized as a main ingredient in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cooking.

Freekehlicious is the leading importer of Greenwheat Freekeh, a product of Australia. A couple months ago, the company sent me samples of its cracked and wholegrain freekeh for me to try and I’ve been addicted ever since.

The cooking process for freekeh is very simple:

  • In small saucepan, place ½ cup of Freekehlicious and 1½ cups of water or broth and bring to a boil.
  • Stir, reduce heat to simmer.
  • Cover and cook – cracked freekeh: 20 minutes and wholegrain freekeh: 40 minutes. .
  • Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes.
  • Yields 1½ cups.

The cooked grain can be used hot or cold and lasts in the fridge for up to 8 days. I love serving the cooked Freekeh like I would Irish steel-cut oatmeal with a bit of maple syrup or in salads, as I did today.

My favorite salad to make goes like this:

Freekeh is 100% natural, with no additives, chemicals, coloring, pesticides/herbicides, GMOs or chemicals.

Cheers,

Veronique