When I made this frittata, I had half of a butternut squash leftover so decided to throw together a quick grain salad to have for lunches all week. I had a bag of Bob’s Red Mill Sorghum that I received from the food blog conference I went to last month and wanted to give it try. You could easily substitute any grain you have on hand- farro, bulger, quinoa, wheat berries.
(random note: the following photos are taken with my new iphone 5s camera- big improvement from my last iphone cam but still not quite as nice as my DSLR (which the first photo was taken with))
Today sorghum remains a staple food in India and Africa, yet it is still relatively unknown in many parts of the world. So what did I think of Sorghum? It was ok, I’ve had other grains I like a little better. It has a very chewy, dense texture so it holds up well even after well dressed which I guess is a good thing (i.e. it’s not going to get mushy or soggy even after days). The negative, it kind of tasted undercooked because of the chewy factor. However the positive is that it’s a gluten free grain and is an excellent source of dietary fiber. Add in chickpeas and squash and you are definitely getting a high fiber meal. I could’ve used my Beano for this dish for sure.
The package has instructions for popping sorghum much like popcorn. I am going to have to try that next time.
Since this was just for me (i.e. my kids wouldn’t touch it), I ended up with a lot of leftovers even though I ate it all week. Next time I will probably halve this portion. I think this would be good with some grilled chicken or shrimp; it would also be nice with some feta or other cheese but I wanted to keep it vegan.
Before I go, I thought I’d leave you with some pics from our weekend. I took the kids to the local farm for some pumpkin picking, petting zoo fun and other kid activities. We ended the morning with some hot chocolate and a load of lil’ pumpkins. Chasing around an almost 2 year old gets pretty tiring fast especially when you’re 6 months pregnant, so I scored this wheel barrow which made the pumpkin picking much easier. My favorite pic of the day.
The sun shone through shortly after we got there and since I was expecting a little rain, I was pretty excited to see it!
Then Saturday night, after an exhausting day of single parenting, I curled up on the couch to watch some shows on my Apple TV when I heard the loudest crashing noise from upstairs.
My heart was racing. All I could imagine was the lil’ guys crib falling apart or something dramatic like that. I ran to my bedroom and found that the entire shelf of my closet had fallen down. Pure awesomeness. All I could was laugh….and sometimes that’s exactly what you have to do or else you might just go crazy!
Happy Monday friends. You know what I’ll be doing with any spare time I find this week….closet make-over!!
- 1 cup uncooked Sorghum (cooked per directions on package)
- 2 cups diced roasted butternut squash
- 1 can chickpeas (garbanzo) beans, rinsed and drained
- ⅓ cup dried cranberries
- ¼ cup chopped pecans
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
- 3 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 2 Tablespoons fresh orange juice
- 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ¼ heaping teaspoon salt
- ¼ heaping teaspoon
- Cook grain according to package. Transfer to a large bowl and let cool a bit. Add butternut squash, dried cranberries, chickpeas, parsley, pecans.
- Mix lime and orange juice in a small bowl. Slowly drizzle in olive oil, add minced garlic, salt and pepper and whisk to combine.
- Pour dressing over grains. Serve warm or cold.
Question: Have you ever cooked with Sorghum? How was your weekend?
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Oh YUM!!! This looks so delicious, and like it would make me FEEL GOOD to eat it, if that makes sense? Love the ingredients!
Ari @ Ari’s Menu recently posted..My Gluten-free Baking Blend
I know exactly what you mean! That is what I was going for- something super healthy that made me feel like I was taking care of myself. 😉
I’ve never tried Sorghum but the way you described it as “chewy” makes me think of wheat berries. Looks delicious regardless!
Happy closet rebuilding! I had a similar experience except my loud crash was a fish tank exploding. Not fun cleaning up dead fish and gallons of water in the middle of the night. 🙂
Angela @ Happy Fit Mama recently posted..4 Tips to Survive a Long Run
OMGosh on the fish tank- that sounds like a nightmare!
how CUTE are your kids.
I need to get mine to a pumpkin patch this weekend!!
Miz recently posted..Tips for taking criticism without falling apart.
Aww, thanks. It’s definitely that time of year. I’ve been seeing pumpkin patch pictures all over social media! 😉
So glad the crash wasn’t anything worse! Looks like such a fun family weekend. And I would love to try sorghum… popping it like popcorn would be fun!
I know! I was definitely expecting to see something horrible based on the noise it created.
Oh yum that recipe sounds and looks sooo good. I love chickpeas and butternut squash.
We took our granddaughter and family to the pumpkin farm when we were in OKC a couple weeks ago. It was so fun.
Sorry to hear about the closet yikes!
Angie @ Losing It and Loving It recently posted..Harvest Your Health Bundle Sale: 97% OFF
I hope your closet shelf get fixed faster than mine when the same thing happened. It took a looonnnng time 🙂
I’m pinning the recipe. It sounds and looks delicious. And I love the pictures in the pumpkin patch. Looks like the family had lots of fun!
Debbie @ Live from La Quinta recently posted..Runner’s Feet: Plantar Fasciitis Solutions + the Hatfield Strap
Thanks Debbie! Well we are renting which is good and bad. They tend to take months to fix things!!
I went through a phase of actually testing different whole grains a couple months ago, and I stopped at sorghum (Ie: I was terrified of it for some reason!!). Not sure why…. I need to just buy some and experiment. This salad sounds perfect. I’ve got plenty of garden butternut leftover 🙂
the Candid RD recently posted..Salt: Do We Crave it When We Actually Need It? And an Insight on “That Time of the Month”
I think it’s pretty similar to wheat berries. Fun experiment though. I need to keep a checklist and see which ones I haven’t tried yet. I get the names mixed up a little. 😉
Thanks for sharing the recipe! Do you think acorn squash could work in place of butternut??
Definitely! Any squash will be fine. 😉