Turkish Bulgur Salad

 

I made this salad this weekend and it was a hit... It was finished before my husband and I sat down to eat dinner.

I highly recommend you make this Turkish dish (which is called kisir by the way) as it as it is easy to prepare and is absolutely delicious.  The primary ingredient in this salad is the bulgur (as opposed to the similar Lebanese dish, tebbouleh where the parsley is the main character).  Bulgur is a wheat which you should definitely be adding to your diet.  It is full of fiber and is a good place to get some vegetarian protein.

Ingredients:
1 cup coarse bulgur
Boiling water
1 large tomato, finely diced (or 2 medium tomatoes - the tomato I used was huge)
1/2 large onion, finely diced
1/2 green chili (more or less if you prefer)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 large handful parsley
4 tablespoons fresh mint leaves
Salt, to taste

For the dressing, mix together the following:
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Salt, to taste

Salad dressing tip:  You may find that when you put the dressing on the salad that you will need to make more adjustments depending on your preference.  This may mean adding more salt or more lemon (I almost always add more salt and an additional tablespoon or so of lemon juice).

Method:
1. Put the bulgur in a bowl.  Add enough boiling water to just cover the bulgur. Cover with a plate (or cling film or something similar).  Let the steam cook the bulgur for about 15 minutes. 

Tip: ALWAYS look at the package directions first - there are so many different types of bulgur out there - yours might call for a different cooking method (such as water quantities, etc).  This one always works for me though.

2. Once the bulgur is cooked, add it to a large serving bowl.  Add in the rest of the ingredients and the salad dressing.
3. Taste, adding more salt or lemon juice if you think it is necessary (I almost never add more olive oil but you may want to).
4. Served chilled

Serves 4

You may also want to check out these salad recipes:
Lebanese Tebbouleh
Arugula and Mushroom Salad
Orzo Salad

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