Bulgur Salad with White Wine Vinaigrette

Bulgur Salad with White Wine Vinaigrette

A dish that I make often because it's so versatile and easy is a Grain Salad. 
I have lots and lots of recipes for these great dishes and they go by many names.

Grain Salads
Rice Bowls
Veggie Grain Mixes

It depends on the cookbook author or chef as to what they're called.
I learned more about these dishes when I took cooking lessons with Sandy this past spring.

I've come to trust my instincts on what would work well together, so I thought I'd share the latest salad I assembled.

These salads have 3 components:

A Grain
Chopped Vegetables and Herbs
A Vinaigrette

The possibilities really are endless!

I wanted to try a white wine vinaigrette that I jotted down when watching Food Network many months ago.  I don't remember who the chef was who prepared this - sorry!.  It's a simple vinaigrette that worked well with the bulgur (a.k.a. bulgar and bulghur) and vegetables that I chose.

You can use any grain in a Grain Salad.  I happened to have bulgur that I cooked up so I planned to use it.  You could also use cooked brown rice, barley, couscous, millet, quinoa...  I've made many varieties.

You can also use any vegetables.  I chopped up cucumber and carrot, and added chopped fresh parsley.

I tossed the bulgur, vegetables and herbs together, then made the vinaigrette in a container with a tight lid. 

 

The White Wine Vinaigrette was very easy - I included olive oil, white wine vinegar, salt & pepper, fresh parsley & basil, Dijon mustard, and garlic. 

 

Tip:  I would use garlic powder in place of chopped garlic next time.  It was a little bitter.

 

Toss and serve.

This is great at room temperature alongside a couple other dishes (I made tilapia and bread this night).  It's also great as leftovers.

 

Double click to print as a 5x7 recipe card.

Enjoy!

 

Tabbouleh

Tabbouleh

David requested Tabbouleh this week, so I went to my folder full of recipes and found two that looked like great, basic Tabbouleh recipes.

I made Mexican Tabbouleh and shared it previously.  It was really good. 

This is the traditional Middle Eastern version that is customizable. 

My recipe below is combination of  epicurious.com's recipe and The Barefoot Contessa Parties cookbook recipe, along with my own likes and pantry items on hand.

Tabbouleh comes from the Arabic word for "seasoning" because in the Middle Ages Middle Eastern cultures began eating edible herbs with most of their dishes.  I like this salad because it has a nice fresh taste due to the lemon, fresh vegetables, and fresh herbs.

I cooked a cup of bulgur wheat, which just takes minutes.

While it was doing its thing, I chopped my cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, scallions, parsley, and mint.

Some recommend peeling the cucumbers, others say not to.  I left the peel on this time and seeded them.  Not sure it makes a huge difference.

I love the colors in this dish!

When the bulgur had soaked up all the water, I added the lemon juice, olive oil, and more sea salt.

Then I tossed the bulgur with the herbs and vegetables.

Some Tabboulehs have a lot more parsley and mint than I ended up with, so you could easily add more. 

I really like this salad the next day too. 

I eat it after it's been out of the refrigerator for 30 minutes or so, but not heated.

Double click to print as a 5x7 recipe card.

بالهنا والشفا

(Arabic for Bon Appetit!)

A great side dish that is easy to make and versatile!