Seasonal Ancient Grain salad with Pomegranate Vinaigrette + Macadamia Ricotta

Cracked freekah with pops of juicy pomegranate, roasted eggplant and a creamy macadamia ricotta. A beautiful recipe by Alexandra Kate from The Botanical Table- www.thebotanicaltable.wordpress.com 

{Salad serves 4 as a side, 2 as a main}

Ingredients:

Macadamia ricotta
• 1 cup macadamias, soaked for at least an hour
• 3 Tbs macadamia or olive oil
• 4 Tbs water
• 1 Garlic clove
• ½ Tbs nut yeast
• 2 tsp fresh chickpea miso
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp lemon rind

Pomegranate vinaigrette
• Juice from 1 pomegranate
• 2 Tbs pomegranate molasses
• 1 Tbs red wine vinegar
• 2 Tbs olive oil

Salad
• 1 cup Freekah, cooked in stock until tender
• 1 red onion, cut into 6-8 wedges
• 1 eggplant, salted and cut into cubes
• 1 cup of Parsley, chopped
• Pomegranate seeds from 1 large pomegranate
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• S+P to taste

Method

For the ricotta
Place all ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth, creamy and fluffy. Refrigerate until ready to use.

For the Pomegranate vinaigrette
In a small bowl add the pomegranate juice, molasses and red wine vinegar and stir to combine. Whisk in the olive oil to make sure the vinaigrette doesn’t separate.

For the salad
Preheat oven to 180°C and line a tray with baking paper. Place eggplant, red onion and olive oil in a medium bowl and toss around making sure everything is covered with the oil.
Spread evenly onto the tray and pop them into the oven to roast for around 30 minutes.
Heat a saucepan over medium heat. Add freekah and toast until fragrant (around 2
minutes). Add 1 ½ cups of water and ¼ tsp of salt and bring to the boil. Turn heat down and let simmer for around 20 minutes, until the freekah is tender and the water is absorbed. Fluff with a fork and set aside to cool.

Assembly
In a large bowl, add freekah, roasted red onion and eggplant, pomegranate seeds, parsley and pomegranate vinaigrette and toss until combined. Season with S+P if needed. Serve with a big dollop of macadamia ricotta.

Enjoy!