Bulghur Salad with Cranberries and Cucumbers.

This was my first time using bulgur, and it's something I definitely plan to use again in the future. I brought this salad for lunch twice this week, and I really found that it gave me a lot of energy throughout the day... so if you're brown bagging things as I do, but haven't cooked with bulgur before, this is a great intro recipe to a really tasty grain.

Day three in the fridge, just as tasty as day one!

Bulgur is a wheat cereal - though different kinds of wheat can be used to make it. Most commonly, durum semolina seems to be the wheat of choice.

A close up

 I've based this recipe on one from Eat, Shrink and Be Merry called Grainman. My measurements are usually pretty loose... so although I've given exact ones here, you should feel more than free to play around with them.

Ingredients

1 cup orange juice
1 cup bulgur
½ cup cranberries
½ cup each diced celery and diced cucumber (I used a baby cuke)
¼ cup chopped almonds
2 tbsp chopped chives
one handful chopped fresh parsley
half a handful chopped fresh mint

1 tbsp walnut oil
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
zest from one lemon
¼ tsp each salt and pepper

Directions

Combine orange juice and 1 cup water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to low and add bulgur. Simmer, covered for 5 minutes, then remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 20 minutes or until bulgur has absorbed all that delicious liquid.

While the bulgur is doing its thing, mix cranberries through nuts in a large bowl.

Once the bulgur has absorbed everything, add it, along with the remaining ingredients to the bowl. Stir well. Taste and check seasonings. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Salad will keep, covered in the fridge, for 3 days.