Gettin' Freekeh

So the fun grocery find of the week is....

Freekeh!

Jay and I saw a special all about this roasted grain on the Dr. Oz show a few months ago, but we have had the hardest time finding it!  Our local Whole Foods didn't even carry any.  I had pretty much given up, when I accidentally spotted these pre-packaged bags at Sprouts over the weekend (and they were on sale!).  I grabbed two different flavors to work into our dinners for the week.

So, what is Freekeh you may ask?  It's just a young green wheat that has been toasted and cracked.  It works great as a replacement for brown rice or quinoa in almost any recipe.

But why would you want to eat it?  Well, among other reasons, Freekeh has up to three times the amount of fiber and protein as brown rice, plus fewer calories than quinoa and white rice.  Sounds like a no-brainer to me!

Freekeh is prepared in a similar manner to other grains.  Simply use one part Freekeh to 2 1/2 parts of water or broth—bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to simmer for about 20-25 minutes, or until tender.

Last night, I used our tamari flavored Freekeh to make this roasted sweet potato stew from freekeh-foods.com.

I loved the nutty flavor and slightly chewy texture of the grain.  The dish turned out freek-in' amazing.  ( < Sorry, I couldn't help myself.)

If you're lucky enough to find Freekeh at your local grocery store, you should definitely give it a try!