Freekeh is perhaps my favorite grain. You might have noticed that I have a thing for smoky flavors and freekeh is young green wheat which is harvested and then burnt over an open flame. This practice is sadly disappearing and there are many freekehs on the market which lack that authentic, smoky flavor. Whenever my husband goes back to Lebanon I ask him to pass by Souk el Tayeb and pick up as much freekeh as he can fit into his suitcase, as they still carry the original good stuff! However, as a trick, you can heat your pan before you cook your freekeh in water and toast the freekh for a few minutes, stirring so it doesn't burn, to help get a bit of that smokiness back into the grain.

This dish is based on one I created for SuperVega and it's still a favorite among diners there. I used to love to pop in and get a huge bowl of this for lunch on a hot Beirut afternoon. I used makdous (preserved eggplants stuffed with walnuts and chili) in that version, but since that can be more than a little tricky to find I've come up with a bunch of substitutes that approximate that uniquely Levantine flavor. And please be generous with the fresh herbs at the end - they're sort of like the lettuce of the salad, bold and tasty.