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Pumpkin, date and feta Sorghum tabouleh

Sorghum is a gluten-free pseudo grain, like millet and quinoa. Botanically speaking, it’s actually a grass, but it cooks like a grain. It reminds me most of pearl (or Isreali) couscous with its round shape and slightly chewy texture.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Course Lunch, Main, Snacks and Sides, Soups and Salad
Servings 4
Gluten Free, Kid Friendly

Ingredients
  

Salad

  • 1 cup Sorghum I used Ceres Organics sorghum
  • 700 g pumpkin cut into 2cm cubes (leave the skin on)
  • 1 red onion chopped
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • ½ tablespoon honey or maple syrup
  • 250-300 g punnet small cherry tomatoes
  • ½ cup dates chopped
  • ½ telegraph cucumber seeds removed, diced
  • ½-⅓ cup flat-leaf parsley finely chopped
  • 100 g feta cheese
  • toasted nuts and seeds e.g. sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, nuts ¼ cup (I used Ceres Organics ‘Paleo scatter’ which is perfect for this)

Dressing

  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds crushed
  • ½ teaspoon ground coriander smoked paprika and ground turmeric ½ teaspoon each
  • 3-4 cloves garlic cloves chopped
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • lemon juice of 1

Instructions
 

  • Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Preheat oven to 200degC. Line an oven tray with baking paper.
  • Wash sorghum, drain and cook in boiling salted water for 45-50 minutes or until tender but still firm to the bite.
  • Toss butternut and red onion with olive oil and honey/maple syrup on lined oven tray. Season with salt and pepper, and roast for about 30 minutes until caramelised. Scatter cherry tomatoes on top, drizzle with a little more olive oil and a pinch of salt, and continue roasting for a further 15 minutes until tomatoes are blistered.
  • To make the dressing, heat olive oil in a small fry pan on low heat. Add spices and garlic; sizzle for about 2 minutes, then turn off the heat. Mix in honey and lemon juice.
  • Drain sorghum. Toss with roast vegetables, dressing, dates, cucumber and parsley. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
  • To serve, spoon salad onto platter; crumble over feta and scatter over nut and seeds.

Notes

As such, sorghum is perfect for substituting in recipes that typically call for pearl couscous (like tagines and soups), but also recipes that use bulghur (like tabouleh), farro or quinoa. It’s naturally gluten-free (in fact, it’s what’s used to make gluten-free beer). It’s commonly eaten in Asia and Africa, but is relatively unknown in the Western world at the moment, however I wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes as popular as quinoa very soon!