The other day I was digging around and tidying up the ol’ pantry. I found a bag of bulgar that I had forgotten about in the process. Normally I like to use bulgar or other grains like farrow as an addition to leafy green salads, because they sorta bulk them up and make them a little heartier and more filling. Instead though I decided I’d try combining it with something else I had lying around; green lentils.
Admittedly, I wasn’t sure what to do at first so I did a quick google search and found a bulgar and lentil salad recipe from Food Network. I figure with all the fiber and protein of both these foods, this should make a great healthy addition, that would store and travel easily. You can find the original recipe here. ← (I can’t seem to find the damn recipe now, so the recipe is gonna come off the top of my head. Good luck to us all.)
I ended up doubling the amounts of the original recipe, but kept the amount of olive oil in the dressing the same. I wasn’t trying to necessarily reduce calories or fat, I just felt the dressing was too oily and wanted more acid in the dish. I’m sure there are lots of little ways you could tinker with this simple dish and get great results. In the end I loved this simple grin and lentil salad, and so did everyone I sampled it out too. It’s a great source of fiber and protein. It’s vegetarian, and could easily be a main dish or a side.
Ingredients:
1 bag Trader Joes Bulgar
1 cup dried Green Lentils
2+ cups chicken stock
½ cup green onions chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
2 lemons juice
2 tsp cumin
2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt to taste
Directions:
Bring 2 cups chicken stock to a boil in a medium sized pot. Add the lentils and reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 30-40 minutes. Taste the lentils as they get close to finishing to get a desired consistency (not too mushy). In another pot boil water and add the bulgur. The Trader Joe’s variety only takes about 10 minutes. Use additional chicken stock if you want to use it up and potentially give things more flavor. You could also swap out another fun grain like farro.
While the lentils and bulgur simmer, chop up the green onions and garlic. Squeeze all the juice you can out of the lemons. Measure out your olive oil and cumin.
When they finish drain your bulgur and lentils. Combine the bulgur and lentils in a large bowl along with the green onions and garlic. Combine the cumin, olive oil and lemon juice and pour over the other ingredients. Mix everything up so the dressing is evenly distributed and add salt to your desired taste. I added a couple good pinches to mine.
BOOM! Done! Easy and great tasting.
The cumin and lentils are a great savory flavor, but the lemon juice gives it enough acidity to balance it all out. Add more if you feel it needs it. Chill this stuff in the fridge and serve cold. It only gets better after a day or so, but mine hardly lasted that long.
The green lentils and bulgur are an awesome source of vegetarian protein and fiber. Make this in advance and you got a healthy option to eat on its own or as a side. I paired it with a nice tuna salad sandwich a few times and loved it.
Try this one out and let us know what you think. Did you make any changes?