I do love a grain. Walking into Whole Foods, I genuinely get excited when I hear of a new ‘Super Food’ that looks like cow fodder and is something I definitely cannot pronounce (I called quinoa ‘Quin-O-a’ for a good couple of months, before being correctly by a woman in Holland and Barrett who looked like she’d never had a crisp in her life). Freekeh is my latest conquest, and not just because it has the word ‘Freek’ in. It needs a bit of love to be tasty but the bonus is it’s mighty fibrous and low in fat. This salad is packed with veg but big on flavour.

Makes about 3 packed lunches

Ingredients:

• 200g freekeh (most big supermarkets will have it)
• 500ml water
• 1 tblsp olive oil
• 1/4 bag of frozen soya beans
• 4 sundried tomatoes chopped
• 1/2 pack of feta
• 2 tbsp fresh pesto (either make your own or buy from the deli counter)
• Handful of baby tomatoes, chopped in half
• 2 Romano peppers (yellow and red), blackened, with skins removed, sliced into long strips
• Handful of basil leaves

Method:

1. Pour the freekeh into a pan with the water and olive oil. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Drain and place in a large bowl.
2. Cook the soya beans in a pan of salted water. Once cooked, drain and add to the bowl of freekeh.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and give it a good stir.
4. Season to taste.

Directions for use: Get a little freeky and mix it up. You can add any veg in season…. courgettes would be a great addition.