This plant based warm bulgur lentil salad is an easy lunch or weeknight meal, with winter friendly sweet potato, kale, and physalis. Just right for light cold-weather meals.
I’ve been craving light dishes the past few days. I think my body is rebelling against all the rich foods that come with the winter holidays. This warm bulgur salad is still winter friendly, though, because it’s super cozy. It’s a great pick-me-up food to recover from holiday gluttony and I think it’d be excellent cold.
I was a little hesitant about this recipe when I was thinking it up, but it turned out really well. I used a few cape gooseberries here to brighten it up a bit but you could substitute something like tomatoes if you can’t find them. They’re often compared to pineapple. If you’ve had tomatillos, cape gooseberries are a sweeter version.
Bulgur is the central component here. Bulgur is a fabulous grain that’s highly digestible and packed with nutrients. 100 grams has 12 grams of protein and 20% of your daily iron intake. It’s relatively cheap too, so that’s always great.
All the ingredients used here are pretty inexpensive and seasonal. Bulgur is not celiac friendly, so I’d recommend switching it out for something like quinoa or wild rice instead if you’re gluten intolerant.
I wanted to make this bulgur salad a one pot meal but lentils take quite a bit longer to cook than the other ingredients. If you like to plan ahead and cook beans and lentils for the whole week, this dish is for you. Otherwise just cook the lentils ahead of time, like I did. You can also leave them out, but the protein content will go way down.
With the bulgur and lentil combination, you’re looking at a meal that’s very high in protein and other nutrients like magnesium and iron. Sweet potato adds vitamin C to increase your body’s ability to absorb the iron, and kale adds extra nutrients. You can substitute carrots and spinach if you have them on hand. This is seriously good for you.
I’m a big fan of healthy warm salads – they’re a great way to sneak in some winter veggies during the colder months, light but with a good mix of raw a cooked veggies.
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Warm Bulgur Lentil Salad
This plant based warm bulgur lentil salad is an easy lunch or weeknight meal, with winter friendly sweet potato, kale, and physalis. Just right for light cold-weather meals.
Ingredients
- 1 large onion diced
- 1 small sweet potato finely diced (about 1 cup)
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup dry bulgur
- 2 cups water or vegetable stock
- 1 lemon
- 3 cups kale de-stemmed and chopped
- 10-12 cape gooseberries quartered
- 1 cup cooked lentils
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- Salt and pepper to taste
Dressing
- Juice of one lemon 2 tablespoons
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Instructions
Heat a large pan over medium heat with some oil. Add the onion and cook for five minutes or until it starts to turn translucent. Add the sweet potato and stir for another five minutes, then toss in the garlic and cook for a further two minutes.
- Wash and juice the lemon, reserving the rind. Add the bulgur to the pan with the two cups water and the reserved lemon rind. Simmer for fifteen minutes. Remove the lemon and add the kale, gooseberries, and lentils. Season with the cumin, salt, and pepper. Throw the lid on the pan for a couple of minutes to let the kale wilt. Cape gooseberries don't need to be cooked, so they'll be perfect in the time it takes for the kale to cook. During that time you can prepare the dressing.
Dressing
- Whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, vinegar, maple syrup, and mustard. Pour over the bulgur mixture, stir, and serve hot. The bulgur will absorb the dressing and it will taste amazing.
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