Monday, May 3, 2010

Bulgur Chickpea Salad

April 2010 706 With temperatures hovering near 90 degrees, it was one of those weekends where I wanted something cold for dinner –  By Sunday I was finally recovering from a nasty cold when chicken broth and cream of mushroom soup had been my dinner choices.

But the fog was starting to clear and my appetite was back to normal. Opening the refrigerator to figure out what to eat, I realized I needed to make some headway on those chickpeas picked up at Costco a week ago. I had already split the enormous can with a friend but still had enough left to serve fifty people. OK, so maybe it was only 25. But still.

Through my days of bed rest, reading food blogs was one way I kept busy. A dish of bulgur chickpea salad on Nirvana’s Kitchen’s blog caught my eye but I wanted to add more ingredients to use up other things I had in the fridge. No need to go to the store, not even for the lemon balm growing in my herb garden. It’s a totally optional ingredient but if you have it, you’ll get more of a lemony zing in the salad.

April 2010 701-1 Feel free to change the quantities to your liking – use more parsley, more scallions, more garlic, or less of any of the major ingredients. I held back on adding too much salt, thinking the feta would make it salty enough. But I found that it needed more than I originally expected. Just keep tasting till you have what you like.

By the way, it’s good right away, but it tastes a lot better after it sits in the refrigerator for a few hours. It’s delicious and nourishing all by itself, but we fired up the grill and served it with shrimp on the barbie.

April 2010 715 

Bulgur Chickpea Salad  

printable recipe here

Makes enough for eight side servings

2 cups bulgur

5 cups water

2 cups chickpeas

6 scallions, sliced, including a bit of the green part

a handful of Italian flat parsley (about 1/2 cup after mincing)

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

lemon balm, optional, minced

fresh minced oregano (use dried if you can’t find it)

1 cup chopped tomatoes

1 cup feta cheese, cut into chunks

Dressing:

juice of two lemons

1/2 cup olive oil

salt, pepper to taste

Bring the water to a boil and pour over the bulgur. Cover and let sit for 1/2 hour. Drain any water that remains. Into a bowl, place the bulgur and all the other ingredients except the dressing. For the dressing, squeeze the lemons into a jar or container and add the olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Shake or whisk, then pour over salad and mix thoroughly.

18 comments:

  1. I'm always looking for interesting and good salad recipes. Yours sounds wonderful. I'm making note of it!

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  2. Its nice to see your doing much better! and this recipe is a great way to fortify the immune system a refreshing salad!
    and buy much shrimp Louisiana needs us more than ever!

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  3. Love our fresh herb posts today....and that bulgur salad looks delicious at lunchtime! NOW!

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  4. I've never used bulgur before Linda, but since I've wanted to try to incorporate more whole grains in our diet I'll earmark this recipe to use when I buy some. I have a big bag off Quinoa to use up right now ..do you think this recipe would work well with that?

    I've bought that giant can of chick peas in Costco in the past and I used it to make a large pot of creamy chick pea soup. It was delicious and easy to spice up many different ways.

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  5. Linda this looks so refreshing fro these summer like days we are having!
    I love these kinds of hearty salads.

    I hope you are feeling better now. I also have had this scourge of a cold going on 3 1/2 weeks now...no fun!

    L~xo

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  6. I've been seeing lots of chickpeas recipes, this one is would be fab for a picnic.

    Time to think if some chickpea recipes...hungry.

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  7. Ottimo questo bugur, ed ottima anche la presentazione, complimenti. Ho appena inoltrato una mail per la domanda che mi avevi posto. A presto Daniela.

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  8. This is the perrrrfect summer salad to enjoy on my deck with grilled chicken this weekend!

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  9. Glad you are feeling better from your cold! I'm the opposite when I'm sick - always ravenously hungry! Your bulgur salad sounds perfect for the heatwave we're having. And I've never used lemon balm before, very curious to try it now :)

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  10. We had some turkey burgers on the barbie this weekend, your salad would have went perfect! I love bulgur, chickpeas, so it's all good to me!

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  11. Loving those herbs. Must plant lemon balm this week. Ninety degrees? Really? I must have turned into a Minnesotan - that sounds - hot. Glad you are feeling better - that salad will be made in White Bear Lake.

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  12. Your salad looks so beautiful and refreshing. My first CSA box is supposed to contain lemon balm. I wasn't sure how I would use it. Great idea!

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  13. This salad looks fantastic! I love the chickpeas and feta. I still have a TON of bulgur left from my tabbouleh, so I may have to give your recipe a whirl.

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  14. This is such a pretty mix of ingredients, and it sounds fantastic with grilled shrimp!

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  15. I'm loving this! Perfect combination of healthy flavors!

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  16. I am a huge fan of chickpeas! This salad looks filling and delicious too! yum!

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  17. what a great salad....my girls will love it!!

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  18. Great salad, Linda. I like to use chickpeas in tabouleh when I make it. And the lemon balm, that's a nice touch. I have tons spreading in the garden, so that will be one way to use some. Feel better!

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