Despite what the British weather would lead you to believe, it is – in fact – summertime. There is no better summer teatime treat than this fresh, herby, zesty salad recipe.
Ingredients:
For the salad:
- 200g bulgur wheat
- 100g green beans (trimmed)
- 100g asparagus (woody ends chopped off)
- 1 large courgette
- A generous handful or two of fresh herbs (I used chives and parsley)
- Zest of one lemon
- Pinch of dried chilli flakes
- 1tbsp butter
- Salt and pepper to season
For the dressing:
- 5tbsp full-fat yogurt (I used greek style)
- Juice of half a lemon
- 1tsp English mustard
- 1tsp maple syrup
- Salt and pepper to season
Method:
For the dressing:
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. Cover and pop in the fridge to get nice and cold.
For the salad:
Preheat your oven to 180C
Put the bulgur wheat in a large bowl and cover with boiling water (so that there is about an inch of water above the level of the wheat). Add a pinch of salt and stir together. Cover and leave aside for about 15mins. After this time the grains should have plumped up but still have a nutty bite. Drain off any excess water and leave aside in a sieve or colander for the remaining liquid to evaporate.
Meanwhile, place the butter in a large frying pan set to a medium high heat. Once the butter starts to sizzle, pop in the lemon zest and chilli flakes and stir together for a moment or two. Add the drained bulgur wheat to the pan and stir together for a few minutes until the butter has been absorbed and the grains start to crackle and pop. Transfer the bulgur wheat to a clean bowl. Finely chop the herbs and mix in with the warm bulgur wheat.
Dice the vegetables into bite-sized pieces and place on a large baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Pop in the oven for about 10 – 15 minutes until the vegetables are tender and then stir together with the bulgur wheat.
Serve warm with a drizzle of cold yogurt dressing. I had my salad with some simple panfried chicken breast on the side.
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