One of my favorite food memories from childhood is my mom's tabbouleh.  This recipe is inspired by this dish and includes a wider variety of vegetables which are colorful and nutritious. Bulgur – the wheat used in this dish has an incredible amount of healthy fiber and is much less caloric then white, or even brown rice.

Click here for more information about bulghur.

 





 

You could use bulgur wheat to substitute couscous in many dishes. You could also use it the same way you would use rice as a side dish as well. I think that once you get comfortable with this ingredient, you can easily come up with many more new, delicious and nutritious ways to cook it.

 



In the United States, bulgur is produced from white wheat in four distinct grinds or sizes -#1 Fine, #2 Medium, #3 Coarse and #4 Extra Coarse grinds. Use Fine or medium for this recipe.

To get bulgur ready is super easy. You will need an equal amount of bulghur and boiling water. Pour water over the bulgur and slowly mix. Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and wait for 15 minutes. Fluff with fork.

 

So you get your veggies all chopped up, you get your bulgur ready and then you just mix it all together. While I believe it is very important  to not simply follow recipes blindly, I do like to initially follow them pretty closely the first few times, then taste & adjust the flavor; especially with salt and acid (in this case the lime) to make sure that the dish has a very nice balance.

 



By chilling this dish in the refrigerator for about an hour, you will allow the different flavors to marry  and the bulgur will absorb the various flavors and will get slightly softer as well.  Double check the taste again before serving - as the dish now is cooler you might need to add little salt again. Enjoy!

 

Lite n' Healthy Bulgur Salad

 

Difficulty: Easy

Makes 4-6 Servings

 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of bulgur

1/2 cup of boiling water

2 tablespoons of olive oil

Juice of one lime

4 green onions, chopped

1 ½ cup of cherry tomatoes, halved

1 yellow or red bell pepper, chopped

1 cup of frozen corn, boiled and cooled

1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped

¼ chopped fresh cilantro or parsley

Salt and pepper

 

 

Instructions:

1.    In medium bowl, pour boiling water over bulgur.

2.    Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 15 minutes. Allow to Cool.

3.    In large bowl, combine and toss remaining ingredients.

4.    Fluff the bulgur with fork and stir with the vegetable mixture.

5.    Season with salt and pepper to taste. Adjust seasoning if needed.

6.    Cover the bowl and chill for at least 1 hour.