This recipe for pomegranate and feta bulgur wheat salad was submitted to Kitchen Geekery by Sarah Krekorian and was created to brighten up your lunchtimes.As the English weather wouldn't provide suitable cheer, I decided to get my fix in a culinary form: pomegranate. I adore its mouth–watering sweet flavour and the sharp tangy after taste that makes it an ideal partner to salty, milky feta cheese.A pairing like this needs a hearty foundation, which is why this recipe calls for bulgur wheat. It's basically the butch big brother to couscous — chunkier and meatier with more bite. Bulgur wheat is easy to prepare and is ideal for salads; adding spices in the soaking liquor effectively self-dresses the salad so it just needs finishing off with simple lemon juice and mint.This salad is ideal for prepping in advance and assembling at the last minute! Unfortunately, bulgur wheat isn't suitable for those that are sensitive to gluten but it can be substituted for quinoa or rice if necessary.
Ingredients
- 1 ripe pomegranate
- 200 g feta cheese
- 100 g dried bulgur wheat
- 1 red onion (sliced)
- 2 green chillies (finely sliced)
- 2 cloves garlic (sliced)
- juice of half a lemon
- small bunch of mint
- ½ veg stock cube
- 1 tsp dried cumin
- 1 tsp dried coriander
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ginger
- ¼ tsp turmeric
Instructions
- Place the stock cube, dried spices, and bulgur wheat in a deep bowl and pour in 750ml/1½ pints of boiling water, or until completely covered by 1cm/½ inch of water. Stir well and set to one side.
- Sweat the onion with a drop of olive oil over a low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally so that it does not stick, cook until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and chilli and allow to soften and the flavour’s mellow for a minute or two. Set to one side off the heat.
- Remove the seeds from the pomegranate, and crumble the feta cheese.
- Remove the leaves from the mint and chop roughly.
- Check the bulgur wheat; it should now be plump and tender, and have absorbed the liquid. If it’s not tender, leave it to soak a little longer, if it’s tender but there is still some excess liquid, then drain through a sieve.
- Assemble the salad in a large bowl by tossing the tender bulgur wheat with the softened onions, pomegranate seeds, and crumbled feta.
- Dress with mint and lemon juice, and serve.
