Buckwheat with halloumi and poached egg is a super delicious and quick dish. It is perfect for a mid-week vegetarian dinner or when you need something fast and healthy. Use any veggies you have in the fridge to create a well-balanced plate of food.
I know that buckwheat might bring some mixed feelings. You will love it or hate it. There is nothing in between. Personally, I absolutely love it! I think these grains have a very nice, soft texture and a nutty, toasty flavour. They work nicely with many different veggies and can be a perfect garnish for your meat dish. What’s not to like about this?
However, I’ve become slightly obsessed with this crop recently. When I was a kid, this grain wasn’t even on my radar. Funnily enough, my mum, who was (and still is) an advocate for healthy and varied eating, absolutely hated buckwheat. Due to this, we never had it (by the way she hates buckwheat so much that even now, she still can’t look at it!). Consequently, I only got round to properly cooking buckwheat for the first time seven years ago. I was trying to slowly cut meaty dishes from my diet and introduce more vegetarian options. I was pleasantly surprised by the taste of this crop and very rapidly it became one of my kitchen cupboard essentials.
Buckwheats
If you are not very familiar with this crop, let me tell you that buckwheat is a highly nutritious whole grain that many people consider to be a superfood. Also, it’s gluten free, a good source of fibre and rich in minerals – basically it has everything you need. As a result, buckwheat consumption is linked to several health benefits, including improved blood sugar control and heart health.
It’s very easy to cook these grains. Rinse the buckwheat under cool running water and place it in a saucepan (no soak needed), using a water ratio of 1.5 cups of water to 1 cup of buckwheat.
Serve buckwheat with halloumi (slightly fried it covered in tikka masala spice mix) to give a different dimension of flavour, accompanied by the perfectly poached egg. Sprinkle some ground pepper on top and add some salad cress to bring some freshness.
Recipe
Ingredients:
200g buckwheat
1 onion
1 carrot
1 chilli pepper
3 garlic cloves
100g mushrooms
1 block of halloumi
1 teaspoon of Tikka Masala spice mix
1 egg
Fresh chives
Olive Oil
Salt and pepper
- Cook the buckwheat in the salted water following the instructions above.
- Finely chop the veggies. Preheat a pan with a splash of olive oil. Add the onion, carrot, chili pepper and garlic into the pan and cook them all together for 5 minutes. After that, add the mushrooms and cook until everything is soft.
- Slice the halloumi and cover the pieces with the Tikka Masala spice mix.
- Fry the halloumi slices on both of the slides in a preheated pan with a splash of olive oil.
- After the buckwheat is cooked, mix the grains with the fried veggies and gently cook them all together (2 minutes).
- Poach the egg (see instructions here).
- Finish the dish with the finely chopped chives.
