Bulgur Bonanza Salad

Bulgur Bonanza Salad

Bulgur wheat, the basis for Tabbouleh salad, can also be used to make a zillion other kinds of salads according to your fancy.  Buy some bulgur and experiment, throwing in whatever you happen to have fresh and think will be yummy.  Come up with a dressing that will match the flavor profiles of the ingredients you're using.  In my case, this time around I had mangoes, tomatoes, jalapeno, red onion, scallions and kidney beans.  My dressing was lime juice, olive oil, cumin, coriander and garlic salt.  This makes a great lunch on its own.

Bulgur Bonanza Salad
Serves 4 as an entree, 8 as a side

Ingredients:
1 cup Bulgur wheat
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 champagne mango, chopped
1 tomato, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
2 scallions, diced
1 jalapeno, minced
Juice of 1 well-squeezed lime
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp coriander
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:  Combine the Bulgur with 2 cups cold water in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until grains are tender.  Drain any excess water off the grains.  Move the cooked Bulgur to a large mixing bowl and add the kidney beans and other vegetables first, then the dressing, which you should whisk together first in a separate small bowl.  Toss the salad together well a few times, seasoning with salt and pepper as needed.  Refrigerate a couple of hours before serving to let the flavors come together.

Free-for-All option:  If you were making this on the weekend, it would be a great accompaniment to grilled meat. Serve as a base under grilled sirloin steak or salmon fillets rubbed in the same spices used as the basis for the Bulgur salad's dressing: cumin, garlic, coriander, lime zest and salt & pepper.  I would throw in a dash of cayenne to the dry rub also.