No Croutons Required: Spicy Mushroom Bulgar Salad

Hello and Happy Sunday!

This will be a short post - I'm about to go out and mow the lawn... in a vain attempt to restore order to the jungle before my parents come to visit on Thursday! But on the positive side, it is gorgeous outside - I even managed to get my pics taken outside!

But I just realised that today is the deadline for No Croutons Required, jointly hosted by Lisa and Hollers. It's the third one - and a great event. This month the theme is mushroom soup or salad - I couldn't miss it!

So without further ado - I present...

Spicy Mushroom Bulgar Salad

• 1 cup bulgar wheat
• hot vegetable stock (approx 250ml - enough to cover the bulgar wheat by a cm or so!
• 1 red chilli, finely chopped
  
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
  
• Approx. 500g mixed mushrooms - I used 2 portabellos, and equal amounts of oyster and chestnut!
• 12 sun dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
• Small handful of pinenuts, lightly toasted
  
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp dried chilli flakes
• maldon sea salt (or normal!)
• rocket leaves

Make the Bulgar What...
In a dry frying pan, toast the bulgar wheat for a few minutes until it turns golden. Transfer to a bowl and cover with the stock. Cover and leave for 10 minutes. Check that it is cooked through and all the stock is absorbed - you may need to add more water and leave for a bit longer. Once cooked, fluff up well and cover.

Make the dressing...
Chuck the oil, vinegar, a couple pinches of salt and the chilli flakes into a jar and shake til emulsified. Or whisk it. It's really up to you!

** As soon as both the dressing and the bulgar wheat is ready, pour 1/2 the dressing into the bulgar wheat and mix well. Cover again and set aside.

Frying the mushrooms...
Prepare the mushrooms by peeling those that need peeled, cleaning those that need cleaned, and chopping into decent sized bits. Heat frying pan to a low to medium heat, add a glug of olive oil, then add the mushrooms. Fry slowly, stirring frequently. Once the water starts to come out of the mushrooms, add the garlic, chilli and a good pinch of maldon salt. Fry for another couple of minutes, then add to the bulgar wheat mix.

Putting it all together...
Add the sun-dried tomatoes and most of the pinenuts to the bulgar wheat and mix well. Use the remaining dressing to dress the rocket leaves. Put a handful on each plate. On top of that add the bulgar mix, and garnish with a few of the remaining pinenuts.



Right, got to go and make the most of this sunshine... by gardening!

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