Green tahini grain bowl
The sauce does the work. Everything under it is negotiable.
Words — WT Editorial Team
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 25 min
- Serves
- 2
- Level
- Easy
Most grain bowls fail on the dressing. This one is blended with a whole handful of soft herbs, so it tastes like a sauce rather than an apology.
Cook the grains in advance and the bowl is a five-minute assembly.
Ingredients
- 150g pearl barley, freekeh or brown rice
- 1 tin chickpeas, drained and dried
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 100g tahini
- Large handful parsley and mint
- 1 garlic clove
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 4–6 tbsp cold water
- 1 cucumber, sliced
- Handful pistachios, chopped
- Sea salt
Method
- 1
Cook the grains in salted water until tender, then drain and spread out to steam dry.
- 2
Toss the chickpeas with the oil, cumin and salt and roast at 220°C for 20–25 minutes until they rattle in the tin.
- 3
Blend the tahini, herbs, garlic, lemon and a good pinch of salt, adding cold water a spoonful at a time until it pours thickly.
- 4
Build the bowls: grains, sauce, chickpeas, cucumber, pistachios. Another squeeze of lemon at the end.
Notes from the kitchen
- The sauce keeps five days and thickens in the fridge — loosen with water, not more lemon.
- Swap pistachios for toasted sunflower seeds if you are cooking for a crowd.
Why we cook it
Pulses, whole grains and a sesame-based sauce cover fibre, plant protein and fat in one bowl without anything needing to be labelled a superfood.
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