Freekah Pilaf

Day of  Honey by journalist Annia Ciezadlo will leave you hankering to make so many of the recipes from her time in Iraq and Lebanon. This is not a cookbook but a memoir of reporting from there over a six year period. Freekah or fire roasted green wheat is slowly becoming available here in speciality stores. I love the texture of it and  have added it to soups and also made it into pilaf.

Another newcomer to the U.S. are green garbanzo beans! So far I have only been able to find these frozen at Whole Foods. This recipe is very loosely based on the one in Annia’s book.

Freekah Pilaf

2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 large carrot, diced
1 large onion, diced, or bag of frozen pearl onions
1 stalk of celery, diced
2 cups freekah
4 cups chicken stock, warmed
1 bag of frozen green garbanzo beans (or regular canned garbanzos), defrosted
Salt and Pepper

Place a large caserole over medium to low heat and allow to warm. Add the oil and butter and melt. Now add the onions, carrot and celery and cook until the vegetable start to get light golden. Pour the freekah in and stir to coat. Once the freekah starts to sizzle, pour in the stock and allow to come to a boil. Cover and cook until all the liquid is all absorbed, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat and add the garbanzos, cover again and let rest for 15 minutes.

Just before serving, toss well, adjust seasonings and add any freshly chopped herbs you like. Freekah pilaf would pair well with my Bahrat Marinated Pork Tenderloin or Moroccan Chicken with Raosted Red Bell Peppers.