This is one of those salads that bursts with healthful goodness. It's a staple in the middle eastern diet. Like Cuban Picadillo (see post here), every family has a different ratio of bulghur to veggies. Some are bulghur heavy and others favour the greens. My preference is for somewhere in between.
We can learn a lot about eating right from this cuisine. Greens in the form of parsley and mint, juicy tomatoes, crisp cucumbers, crunchy bulghur wheat and a simple olive oil and lemon dressing.
What a great lunch to take to work or a nice light dinner when you just feel like taking a break from the meat thing.
This makes about 6 cups for plenty of good eating.
Here's what you'll need:
1 C bulghur wheat
2 C chopped curly parsley
1 bunch fresh mint (about 1/2 C chopped)
2 vine ripened tomatoes
3 Lebanese style cucumbers
3 green onions
1/2 C olive oil
4 T lemon juice
(or 3 T lemon juice & 1 T white wine vinegar)
1 t granulated garlic
Salt to taste
Cover bulghur with water.
Let soak for at least an hour.
I let mine soak for 3 hours simply because I went for a nap :-)
It should have a chewy, not hard texture when ready.
 |
| With a knife or small spoon, take the seeds out of the tomatoes. |
This is how the de-seeded tomatoes look like.
Dice tomatoes...
Halve each of the cucumbers lengthwise.
Halve the halves.
Dice the cucumbers strips.
Chop the parsley...
Remove the mint leaves from the stem. Chop.
Trim and chop the green onions.
Drain the bulghur wheat through a fine mesh.
Press with the back of a spoon to press all the water out.
Place bulghur in a large bowl.
Add tomatoes, cucumbers, green onions...
Add parsley and mint.
Add 4 T lemon juice or
3 T lemon juice & 1 T white wine vinegar,
and 1/2 C olive oil, granulated garlic.
Mix thoroughly.
Add salt to your taste.
A colourful salad filled with healthy goodness!
This is so delicious and satisfying,
you'll want to gobble it up.
However...
Make sure you save at least 1 cup because next post,
you'll need some to make a couple of falafels!
No comments:
Post a Comment