Toasted Buckwheat, Blistered Grape and Herb Salad

Fancy a salad for your next meal? Try this superfood buckwheat salad. It's nutritious, tasty and incredibly satisfying. Combined with different sorts of fresh herbs, blistered red grapes, pomegranate seeds and a lemony smoky cumin dressing, this salad really brings this pseudo grain to life!
Buckwheat, like quinoa, amaranth, teff, and Kañiwa, belongs to pseudocereals. Pseudocereals are plants that produce fruits or seeds which are used and consumed as grains, though botanically pseudocereals are neither grasses nor true cereal grains.
Buckwheat, despite its name, is not related to wheat and is thus gluten-free. It mainly composed of carbs and a decent amount of fiber. Buckwheat also contains small amount of protein.

Salad	Dressing
240 g Buckwheat 250 g Seedless red grapes 1 tbsp Avocado oil (or olive oil) 2 tsp Pomegranate molasses 1/2 Pomegranate seeds 80 g Brazil nuts, toasted and roughly chopped 80 g Fresh herbs (basil, flat parsley, dill, mint and lemon thyme) Salt and pepper	2 tbsp Cumin seeds, toasted, roughly crushed in a mortar and pestle Juice and zest of 1 lemon 1 tsp Smoked paprika 1 tbsp Date syrup (or honey) 6 tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil

Place the buckwheat in a frying pan and toast over medium heat until lightly browned and the buckwheat is taking on a nutty aroma. Remove and allow to cool.
Rinse buckwheat well under cold running water, drain and cook in boiling salted water until just tender, about 10 minutes. Drain, refresh under cold running water and transfer to a large tray to cool to room temperature.
Meanwhile, add the avocado oil to a pan over medium-high heat. Once sizzling, add the grapes and cook, shaking the pan regularly until you see the grapes start to blister. At this point add the pomegranate molasses and cook until they look coated and shiny, about 30-45 seconds. You don't want the sugar in the grapes or the pomegranate molasses to burn.
Once the buckwheat cooled, place them in a large bowl, and season generously with salt and pepper. Add the blistered grapes, pomegranate seeds, chopped Brazil nuts, and herbs. Toss gently to combine.
To make the dressing, combine all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk thoroughly.
Pour dressing over the salad and toss again. The buckwheat can really absorb the dressing, so let it rest for a minute or so and, if necessary, drizzle over a little extra olive oil. Season generously and serve.

27 comments:

Christine 4/6/21 05:06: Looks delicious!
Nancy Chan 4/6/21 07:24: This is an interesting recipe. I really want to taste this salad. I am sure it is very delicious.
Margaret D 4/6/21 08:22: That looks an interesting salad.
Pedro 4/6/21 11:45: Exotic and interesting salad, while healthy, I think.
Have a good weekend
Martyna 4/6/21 12:30: This seems very delicious 😊
Ben | Havocinthekitchen 4/6/21 12:33: How beautiful! I love buckwheat, and I often make salads with it. But I've only made savoury salads, and this sweet & savoury variation looks and sounds phenomenal! I'll need to try it!
Martha 4/6/21 13:07: Delicious!
Whats Cookin Italian Style Cuisine 4/6/21 13:28: this is a delicious salad we just love the addition of buckwheat
Tom 4/6/21 14:33: ...an unusual combination.
thepaintedapron.com 4/6/21 14:57: Wow, super creative salad Angie! I have roasted grapes before for salads, and they are so good...yum!
Jenna
Fran @ G'day Souffle 4/6/21 16:08: I've never cooked with blistered grapes before- sounds interesting. This looks like a meal in itself with all those grains- looks good!
Brian's Home Blog 4/6/21 16:15: That does look good, I like buckwheat too!
Kitchen Riffs 4/6/21 16:53: I don't often combine grapes and grain in savory dishes. Nice! Lovely summer salad. Thanks!
Anonymous 4/6/21 17:26: I love hearty salads with so many flavors and textures! The combination of sweet, blistered grapes and toasty buckwheat is mouthwatering!
Norma2 4/6/21 17:43: Angie, a very complete food where there is no shortage of vegetables, nuts and fruit.
Kisses
savorthebest 4/6/21 20:59: Great flavors! This does make for a fancy salad.
Bernadette 4/6/21 22:42: Thanks for the education on what I thought were grains. A fantastic lunch.
SavoringTime in the Kitchen 5/6/21 01:57: So unusual and I love everything about this salad! Date syrup in the dressing sounds great!
J.P. Alexander 5/6/21 03:23: Gracias por la receta se ve muy rica. Te mando un beso
Nammi 5/6/21 06:34: I always learn something new from you. Looks so good.
DEZMOND 5/6/21 09:49: I find buckwheat a bit bitter so I don't like to cook it like quinoa, millet and rice, I think it is better for sweet porridge, the Russian style, but I do sometimes put a spoonful of it into brown rice or some soup as it is extremely nutritive and health saving.
Evi Erlinda 5/6/21 11:42: What a great salad!
Agree, buckwheat and quinoa in salads are fancy and tasty!
Tanza Erlambang 5/6/21 16:01: never heard about "toasted buckwheat".... I'll find out.....

Have a wonderful weekend
gluten Free A_Z Blog 6/6/21 12:53: Such an interesting way to use buckwheat. My mother used to make it combined with noodles in a hot dish. It is one of the "grains" I can eat being gluten-free. This salad and especially the dressing looks delicious.
bread&salt 7/6/21 04:28: Very different and interesting recipe.
Sherry's Pickings 8/6/21 09:37: this looks excellent angie. funny how foods go in and out of fashion. Brazil nuts seem to be so under-utilised these days but i love 'em!
Noob Cook 13/6/21 15:28: I'm only familiar with buckwheat as in soba noodles, never seen or ate it before in this form. It must make a delicious complex carb in the salad!