Friday, June 19, 2009

Bulgur and Vegetable Salad



I love a cold grain and vegetable salad. This one combines the benefits of whole grain with added nutrition from the raw vegetables. This salad is packed with vegetables and flavor. It has a little heat from the hot crushed peppers and flavor from the lemon juice and zest. The crunch of the cold vegetables add a nice textural counterpoint to the cooked grain.

Bulgur and Vegetable Salad
Serves 8 servings

Ingredients:

2 cups of bulgur, uncooked
4 cups of water
½ teaspoon of kosher salt
2 lemons, juice and zest
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
1 cup of edamame, shelled
1 seedless cucumber, cut into quarters lengthwise and then sliced
1 red bell pepper, finely diced
2 carrots, grated
2 tablespoons of hot crushed peppers
½ teaspoon of dulse granules
1 pound of raw asparagus, sliced fine
½ pound of sugar snap peas, sliced

Directions:

Cook bulgur in water with salt in a covered pan until water is absorbed (about 20 minutes on medium heat). Add lemon juice, lemon zest and olive oil to warm bulgur. When salad has cooled, add the prepared vegetables and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 205.31
Calories From Fat (14%) - 29.71

Total Fat - 3.46g
Saturated Fat - 0.49g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 148.35mg
Potassium - 589.13mg
Total Carbohydrates - 38.44g
Fiber - 10.82g
Sugar - 5.49g
Protein - 9.15g

Comments:

This salad has a little heat from the hot crushed peppers, and plenty of flavor. It travels well, and makes a great lunch with some raw baby spinach, broccoli sprouts and sunflower seeds. I added the spinach and broccoli sprouts for the additional cancer fighting benefits.

2 comments:

  1. you know, bulgur is grain that i see, but have not even tried to master yet. i had no idea how to cook it. i have done quinoua(sp?) and barley and brown rice.(yum the brown rice was so good!) but i tend to over cook things (um by not really paying attention....) so this helps me more than you know. also you take a lot of time in figuring out and writing the nutritionals, thank you for that also.

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  2. dirtyduck,

    Bulgur is a wonderful grain. I use it in recipes that call for couscous because it is less processed. I know people that don't cook their bulgur, they just soak it. But I understand that takes much longer and I am usually in a hurry.

    Millet is a wonderful grain as well. If you haven't tried that you should. It is my husband's favorite grain and he is a little tough to please.

    The nutritional information is easier than you think. I bought a cookbook program "Living Cookbook" so it would calculate numbers. All I have to do is input the food which only takes a few minutes a recipe and then copy the stats to the post. It is nice to know someone else looks at the stats besides me.

    Alicia

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