Freekeh Salad with Roasted Parsnips & Beets and a Honey Mustard Dressing

Fri, 21 November 2025

Freekeh Salad with Roasted Parsnips & Beets and a Honey Mustard Dressing

Serves 6 as a side

Ingredients:

• 500g beetroots, scrubbed (if you don’t want to cook your own beetroot you can use pre-cooked)
• 500g parsnips, peeled and cut into batons
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 200g freekeh (if you can’t get freekeh make this with cooked bulgar wheat, puy lentils or wild/brown rice)
• Juice ½ small lemon
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 100g kale
• Sea salt and black pepper
• 1 small bunch of fresh flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped (about 20g)

For the dressing:

• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 tablespoon wholegrain mustard
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons honey (or 3 teaspoons maple syrup)
• 1 clove garlic, finely grated or chopped
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• Sea salt and pepper to taste (but remember the mustard is salty)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 160°C fan.

Toss the whole beetroots in a tablespoon olive oil and a good sprinkling of salt. Put them in a covered container (either an ovenproof casserole dish with a lid or cover the baking tray tightly with foil. Roast until easily pierced with a knife. This can take anything from 45 minutes to two hours. Set aside to cool. Once cool enough peel off the beetroot skins and cut the beets into bitesize wedges.

Turn the oven up to 180°C fan.

Put the parsnips on a baking tray, drizzle over two tablespoons of olive oil season well with salt and pepper. Toss well until the parsnips are coated in the seasoning. Put in the oven for 25-30 minutes until soft and golden.

Boil the freekeh in a saucepan of salted water for about 30 minutes. Check to see if it needs longer. Remove the pan from the heat, drain and leave the freekeh to cool slightly. Keep it a little warm to soak up the dressing flavour.

Combine the lemon juice and honey in a small bowl and stir to combine. After 25 minutes, when the parsnips are almost cooked, add the honey mixture and stir to coat. Put the parsnips back in the oven for another 5 minutes until sticky and golden.

Remove the stalks from the kale and tear into bitesize pieces. Drizzle with the remaining tablespoon olive oil, season with salt and roast at 180°C for 5-10 mins or until crisp.

Put all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk together. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Stir 2/3 dressing through the warm freekeh. Stir in the chopped parsley. Drizzle the remaining dressing over the parsnips and beetroots

On a large platter or shallow bowl layer the beetroots and parsnips with the freekeh. Top with the crispy kale just before serving. Can be served warm or at room temperature.