Gluten-free buckwheat salad recipe

Gluten-free buckwheat salad recipe

If you are looking for a different lunch then our gluten-free buckwheat salad recipe is a great one to try. Although the name of this nutritious seed suggests it contains wheat and, by default gluten, it is in fact naturally gluten-free. Buckwheat is actually a seed, however many people call or treat it like a wholegrain. Nutritionally, buckwheat is a good source of plant-based protein, as well as providing your body with manganese, magnesium and copper. It is also a good source of dietary fibre and flavonoids – flavonoids are needed by the body to enhance vitamin C action and act as antioxidants. This combines to make buckwheat great for cardiovascular and digestive health.

Buckwheat is also a good source of energy for your body. It has a low glycaemic index, which means buckwheat is suitable for people with diabetes. Some research suggests that buckwheat can help to stabilise blood sugar. Here at the retreat, we consider buckwheat as a good source of carbohydrates. Read more about carbohydrates in this months article by clicking here.

As this recipe is to make a salad, you want the buckwheat “grains” to be light and not to stick. Therefore, we recommend that before boiling your buckwheat, you first toast it. By toasting the grains you will add a slight nuttiness to the flavour, as well as making the grains less likely to clump. To cook buckwheat you need to boil it – a good rule of thumb is one cup of buckwheat to two cups of water.

This recipe can be enjoyed on its own – it makes a great dish to take to work for lunch – or you might like to serve it with lentil sausages, a big leafy salad with a sesame vinaigrette dressing and maybe a tasty dip like Indian Baingan bharta dip. If you enjoy this recipe you can also try our buckwheat pesto recipe.

Gluten-free buckwheat salad recipe

Serves: 6
Calories: 1670 total, 278 per serving

Ingredients

1 cup buckwheat
2 cups water
1 tsp dried oregano
½ red onion, chopped thinly
2 carrots, cut into small cubes
1 small tin sweetcorn
2 tbsp raisins
3 tbsp toasted whole almonds, chopped
½ cup fresh parsley
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
Optional: Tamari sauce (or soya sauce) to taste

Method

Place the buckwheat in a pan on a medium flame and keep on stirring with a wooden spoon until it gets golden brown and starts releasing a toasty, almost nutty fragrance.

Add the water and oregano to the pan and bring it to a boil. When the water starts to boil, cover the pan and turn the heat to very low. Leave to cook, stirring occasionally. It can take 20 to 30 minutes to cook. Check and add more water if the pan starts to get too dry. If the buckwheat is cooked but water is still left in the pan, leave off the lid and stir continuously.

Once the buckwheat is cooked, remove it from the pan and allow to cool down.

Whilst the buckwheat is cooking, stir fry the onions with some water in a frying pan, for about 5 minutes until they become soft. Add the chopped carrots and keep on frying for 5 minutes longer. Add more water as needed to prevent sticking. The carrots still want to be firm, so they have some crunch to them. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

In a bowl mix the cooked buckwheat, cooked vegetables, sweetcorn, raisins, almonds and parsley. Add olive oil and lemon juice to dress and a dash of tamari sauce to taste if desired.

Try a plant-based diet for health and nutrition

Here at the retreat we serve a plant-based diet, for maximum health and nutrition. You can read more about the type of food that we serve on our food page. More plant-based food recipes are available on our blog page. Come try it for yourself – read more about the retreats here.

About the author

Lisa
Lisa
Lisa is one of the founders of La Crisalida Retreats. She is an Epidemiologist, therapeutic hatha and yin yoga teacher and also teaches mindfulness meditation. Lisa has studied NLP and hypnosis, as well as nutrition (she designs the menus).