Cracked Wheat Salad with Dates & Tahini Yogurt

Ingredients

For Tahini Yogurt

1/2 cup greek yogurt or plain yougurt

1/2 cup tahini, (sesame paste)

juice of 1/2 a lemon

zest of 1 lemon

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tbs extra virgin olive oil

For Salad

1 cup cracked wheat, cooked

1/2 cup red lentils, cooked

1/4 cup dates, chopped

1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1 medium zucchini, diced and grilled in some olive oil

1 small red onion, finely chopped

1 tsp sweet paprika

1 tbs toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Preparation

For Tahini Yogurt: You can skip this step if using greek yogurt. If using plain yogurt, scoop out a few tablespoon of yogurt in a strainer or a cheesecloth and put in a bowl for about 30 min- you want to take all the water out of it so that it becomes thick. In the meantime dry roast ground cumin and coriander in pan for a few minutes…till it starts getting fragrant. In a mixing bowl, add yogurt (sans water) andtahini and mix well. Now add, cumin, coriander, lemon juice and zest, olive oil and salt to taste and mix well to form a thick paste like mixture. Set aside.

For Assembling the Salad: In a big salad bowl mix everything and season with little salt (just be careful as the yogurt topping also has salt in it). Serve in individual salad bowls – put a dollop of the tahini yogurt and sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds. Tastes best at room temperature.

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About

Its a super easy salad that is healthy and is packed with a lot of flavors. Originally I was trying to develop this recipe with couscous, but then I felt it would be a lot healthier if I used cracked wheat instead. The wheat I used is thicker than burgul and has more texture. I added a little contrast in the flavors by adding some chopped dates to it. Dates add a little sweetness to the salad and pairs great with the sour-ish yogurt sauce that I topped it with. I used tahini to flavor the plain yogurt and added some lemon…it really turned out tasting very smooth and rich. It was so flavorful that I was thinking next time I will make some extra and eat it with fresh veggies as a dip.You can skip out on the yogurt topping if you are a vegan. Just the flavors from zucchini, dates, parsley and cracked wheat are delicious enough by themselves.