As the name suggests, it’s a Maghreb dish today! Using sorghum, a naturally gluten-free whole grain with a stack of vitamins and minerals. This salad also comes with fruit and nuts (apricots and almonds; a heavenly combination for both taste and nutrients) as well as greens, herbs, and spices.

Note: to keep things simple today, we’ve listed ras el-hanout as one ingredient. If you’re unfamiliar, it’s a spice blend; you can probably buy a version locally, but you might as well know how to make it yourself—so here’s our recipe for that!

You will need

• 1½ cups sorghum, soaked overnight in water (if you can’t find it locally, you can order it online (here’s an example product on Amazon), or substitute quinoa) and if you have time, soaked overnight and then kept in a jar with just a little moisture for a few days until they begin to sprout—this will be best of all. But if you don’t have time, don’t worry about it; overnight soaking is sufficient already.
• 1 carrot, grated
• ½ cup chopped parsley
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• ½ tbsp chopped chives
• 2 tbsp ras el-hanout
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 tbsp almond butter
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp white miso paste
• ½ cup sliced almonds
• 4 fresh apricots, pitted and cut into wedges
• 1 cup mint leaves, chopped
• To serve: your choice of salad greens; we suggest chopped romaine lettuce and rocket

Method

(we suggest you read everything at least once before doing anything)

1) Cook the sorghum, which means boiling it for about 45 minutes, or 30 in a pressure cooker. If unsure, err on the side of cooking longer—even up to an hour will be totally fine. You have a lot of wiggle room, and will soon get used to how long it takes with your device/setup. Drain the cooked sorghum, and set it aside to cool. If you’re entertaining, we recommend doing this part the day before and keeping it in the fridge.

2) When it’s cool, add the carrot, the parsley, the chives, the vinegar, and 1 tbsp of the ras el-hanout. Toss gently but thoroughly to combine.

3) Make the dressing, which means putting ¼ cup water into a blender with the other 1 tbsp of the ras el-hanout, the garlic, the almond butter, the lemon juice, and the miso paste. Blend until smooth.

4) Assemble the salad, which means adding the dressing to sorghum-and-ingredients bowl, along with the almonds, apricots, and mint leaves. Toss gently, but sufficiently that everything is coated.

5) Serve on a bed of salad greens.

Enjoy!

Want to learn more?

For those interested in some of the science of what we have going on today:

• Four Ways To Upgrade The Mediterranean Diet ← including an anti-inflammatory version, which is functionally what we’re doing today. As an aside when people hear “Mediterranean” they often think “Italy and Greece”. Which, sure, but N. Africa (and thus Maghreb cuisine) is also very much Mediterranean, and it shows!
• Our Top 5 Spices: How Much Is Enough For Benefits?
• Why You Should Diversify Your Nuts!
• Brain Food? The Eyes Have It!

Take care!

Summer is upon us, and we need salad options. Coleslaw’s all well and good, until you’re the 4th person to bring it to the pot luck. Tzatziki’s great—and healthier than a standard coleslaw, being based in yogurt rather than mayonnaise as most Western coleslaws are (Eastern European coleslaws, for example, more often use a vinaigrette), but today our tastebuds are traveling to Turkey for this gut-healthy, phytochemical-rich, delicious dish.

You will need

• 12 oz carrots, cut into very thin batons (alternatively: use a peeler to peel it into super-thin strips)
• 2 oz chopped nuts (pistachios are traditional, almonds are also used sometimes; many other nuts would work too e.g. walnuts, hazelnuts, etc; not peanuts though)
• 2 cups kefir yogurt (if unavailable, substitute any 2 cups plain unsweetened yogurt; comparable plant yogurt is fine if you’re vegan; those healthy bacteria love plant yogurts as much as animal ones)
• 1 bulb garlic, grated
• 1 tsp chili flakes
• 1 pinch saffron, ground, then soaked in 1 tbsp warm water for a few hours
• 2 tbsp olive oil for cooking; ideally Extra Virgin, but at least Virgin

Method

(we suggest you read everything at least once before doing anything)

1) Put the olive oil and carrots into a saucepan and heat gently, stirring. You want to soften the carrots just a little and absorb the olive oil, without actually fully cooking the carrots; this will probably only take 2–3 minutes at most. Take it off the heat and transfer it to a bowl to cool.

When the mixture has cooled…

2) Add the kefir yogurt, garlic, chili flakes, and saffron water into the carrots, mixing thoroughly.

3) Add the chopped nuts as a garnish

^{(after mixing thoroughly, you will probably see more of the yogurt mixture and less of the carrots; that’s fine and correct))}

Enjoy!

Want to learn more?

For those interested in some of the science of what we have going on today:

• Making Friends With Your Gut (You Can Thank Us Later)
• The Many Health Benefits Of Garlic
• Capsaicin For Weight Loss And Against Inflammation
• Why You Should Diversify Your Nuts!
• Saffron For The Brain (& More) ← do not underestimate saffron’s neuroprotective qualities, and many other beneficial properties!

Take care!