Denise says:
This recipe can be served as a side dish with fish or meat, or add some feta cheese or mozzarella and enjoy as a main course. At Rosh Hashanah we enjoy symbolic foods like apples and honey for a year of blessings and good fortune but one food that is avoided is nuts. The numerical equivalent of the word "nut" - egoz in Hebrew - is seventeen. Seventeen is also the numerical equivalent of the Hebrew word for sin, chet, not as it's properly spelled, but as it's pronounced and so consequently many people stay far away from anything reminiscent of sin on Rosh Hashanah, nuts included.
So to start the year, the healthy way, I have focused on different types of nutritional seeds; pumpkin, chia and pomegranate.
Pumpkin seeds are rich in protein and are the only seeds that are alkaline forming in this world of highly acidic foods.
Chia seeds are loaded with vitamins, minerals, fibre, antioxidants and are the richest plant source of omega 3 fatty acids and are certainly considered one of the top 10 superfoods.
Pomegranates are a rich source of anti-oxidants and are especially high in poplyphenols that help reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease.
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 35 minutes
Serves: 6 people
Ingredients:
200g pearl barley – (or substitute for bulghur wheat if preferred and cook according to the packet instructions.)600g cauliflower, finely chopped
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4 tablespoons mint leaves
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1 lemon, juice and zest
2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
2 tablespoons chia seeds
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Handful chopped fresh dill, parsley
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Garnish: 1 pomegranate – seeds removed
Method
1. Place 500ml water, barley and salt into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Cover and reduce the heat; simmer gently for 35 minutes or until the barley is cooked and all the water absorbed. Set aside.2. Bring a separate saucepan of lightly salted water to the boil and cook the cauliflower for 4-5 minutes or until it begins to soften. Drain and rinse twice.
3. Put the cauliflower into the food processor with the mint leaves and pulse together until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
4. Mix the cauliflower mixture into the cooked barley.
5. Stir in the juice and zest of lemon, pumpkin, chia seeds, chopped dill and parsley.
6. Season well and stir in the olive oil.
7. Transfer to a large serving dish.
To serve the stylish way: Garnish with pomegranate seeds.