Greek Salad With Kalamata Olives & Tomatoes
Who doesn't love the wonderful flavors of summer? Here's a simple recipe for all that fresh basil and heaps of tomatoes from your garden. What? You don't have your own garden yet? No worries! Check and see if there's a local farmer's market near you where you can purchase locally grown produce. Another alternative is to find a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). Local farmers provide you with weekly seasonal foods, and you pick them up. It's a great way for farmers to have some early season cashflow. And it's great for you because you'll get to try some new produce you may not have heard of before – like striped heirloom tiger tomatoes or baby arugula, which has a delicate peppery taste. Find a CSA near you at localharvest.org.
Prep Time: About as fast as you can say "Dinner's ready!"
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4-6
Ingredients
1 8-ounce package cracked freekeh (1 cup)
2 ½ cups water or vegetable broth
fresh tomatoes, cut into chunks (I really like grape tomatoes cut in half for this because they're so sweet)
Kalamata olives, pitted and cut
fresh basil leaves, a good handful or two, chopped
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
a few tablespoons red wine vinegar
plenty of fresh cracked pepper, and salt to taste
low-fat crumbled feta cheese or crumbled goat cheese
Directions
Pour 2 1/2 cups of water and the freekeh in a saucepan and bring to a boil for 1 minute. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for about 25 minutes until the freekeh is tender. After it's cooked, remove from heat and let cool in the refrigerator. Slice up the tomatoes and Kalamata olives. Toss in a large bowl with the freekeh. Add in olive oil, red wine vinegar, and the remaining ingredients and stir.
Options: Instead of olive oil and red wine vinegar, try one of these favorite pre-made dressings: Newman's Own Greek Vinaigrette Dressing® or Trader Joe's Organic Red Wine & Olive Oil Vinaigrette®.
