Can you even call yourself a food person if you haven’t made Cypriot grain salad?

Nutty, nubbly, herb-strewn and bejewelled with pomegranate seeds, this wholesome salad has been a smash hit at Good Food since the recipe debuted online in 2013.

It was dreamt up and shared by chef Travis McAuley when he worked in the kitchen at the now-closed Hellenic Republic.

And while food trends have come and gone in the 12 years since Good Food published the recipe – hello and goodbye Nutella with everything, bone broth and poke bowls – the Cypriot grain salad lives on.

Searches for this versatile, satisfying make-ahead salad inevitably spike at Easter, Christmas, Australia Day and before every long weekend – it’s the obvious take-along option any time families and friends gather.

Sure, preparing the salad takes time. There are herbs to chop, seeds to toast and grains to “blanch” (actually, simmer) separately, so block out a couple of hours if you plan to give it a crack.

But it’s a dish you can make your own, tailoring it to allergies, flavour preferences or what’s in the pantry.

As Hellenic Republic founder George Calombaris told Good Food in 2017, when the recipe reached the million-hit mark: “If you don’t have freekeh [roasted green wheat grains], we’ve all got pulses and grains sitting in the back of the pantry … Pull them out and use them up. It doesn’t matter if it’s green lentils or even chickpeas, just whack them in. You’re allowed to be a bit cheeky with it.”

So in the spirit of getting cheeky with it, here’s how the Good Food team customises the undisputed GOAT of grain salads.

More is more

I’ve shared this recipe so often that it just pops up at all our family events now. What I love most about it is the sheer volume it makes. It serves eight comfortably, but if you suddenly find another two people on your doorstep, you can throw in a tin of chickpeas, and it’ll stretch even further without losing its nutty, grainy flavour. And unlike other leafy, vegie-packed salads that wilt or brown quickly, this one stays fresh for up to three days.
Erina Starkey, Good Food app editor

Always add lemon

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve made this salad – for family gatherings, barbecues and street parties. Every time, it’s slightly different. Sometimes I add chopped dill, pistachios or dried barberries (commonly used in Middle Eastern cooking), or leave off the yoghurt dressing and crumble on feta instead. When I do make the dressing, I prefer it tangy rather than sweet, so I omit the honey, and stir in a tablespoon of finely chopped preserved lemon and the zest of half a lemon. With so many great flavours in every bite, the pomegranate arils are not strictly necessary, but they do add a sweet crunch and bling. If you’re not feeding a tribe, halve the quantities – it still makes enough to serve four people generously as a side dish.
Roslyn Grundy, recipe editor

Lower-FODMAP version

Can’t tolerate legumes, alliums or wheat? Try this lower FODMAP spin for people with delicate digestive dispositions. Omit the onion, then swap the freekeh for quinoa, Puy lentils for well-drained canned lentils, and honey for maple syrup. If you’re sensitive to regular yoghurt, try a lactose-free alternative. I swapped currants for a spoonful of low-sugar dried cranberries, too. The result was a lighter salad that still had that signature nuttiness and crunch. These substitutions make it gluten-free too, so it’s safe for your coeliac friends. Megan Johnston, Good Food writer and producer

Dial up the dressing

I love my food with oomph, so I added more onion than was prescribed (almost a whole one) to the salad. For the yoghurt dressing, I used Quinby’s chilli honey (made with Australian wild honey and habaneros) to give it some heat. I also stirred a heaped spoon of nutritional yeast to add a savoury, umami depth to the dressing, along with some garlic. You could go raw, or if you have toum (creamy Lebanese garlic sauce) in the fridge, it blends well in the yoghurt.
Sarah Norris, head of Good Food

Go with the grain

This salad is so forgiving that it’s not all over if you don’t have one or two of the ingredients at hand. After turning the pantry upside down rummaging for lentils one day, I discovered a bag of black rice begging to be used. Into the salad it went, and it was a lovely grain to have in the mix. Thankfully right now we’re coming into pomegranate season, but when we’re not (or when you simply can’t be bothered wrestling the seeds out), dried cherries make a lovely sweet substitute. Because this recipe makes so much salad, we serve the dressing on the side, so the leftovers don’t turn soggy.
Isabel Cant, social media editor