Warm bulgur salad, ceci & lacinato

Tonight we both came home belly-aching, literally, so dinner had to wait for stomachs to settle. When M wandered into the kitchen looking lost I knew it was time to sort it out. I grabbed bulgur wheat, a ripe lemon, flat leaf parsley, shallots, chick peas, lacinato kale, olive oil, tahini, cumin seeds & a vegan bullion cube. You can make this quick and easy meal too. In our house this "recipe" makes two dinner servings plus two lunch leftovers.

Warm Bulgur Salad
1 cup bulgur
1 vegan bullion cube
2.5 cups water

Bring water with bullion cube to a boil in a 2 qt sauce pan. Add bulgur, cover and remove from heat. Let sit until most of the liquid is absorbed. Drain remaining liquid (I used a mesh sieve) and set aside.

Lemon Parsley Dressing
1 cup flat leaf parsley leaves, chopped
juice of one lemon (2-3 Tbsp)
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and coarse ground pepper to taste
Combine all in a lidded jar and shake it up well, until it starts to emulsify. Pour dressing over
bulgur and stir well.

Ceci (chick peas) & Lacinato
2 small shallots, minced
1 Tbsp canola oil
1 15.9 oz can chick peas, drained and rinsed
1/2 bunch lacinato kale, chopped
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1 pinch asafoetida
2 tsp tahini
reserved liquid from bulgur

In nonstick saute pan heat oil, cumin seeds and asafetida over medium heat. Saute shallots until they sweat a bit. Add ceci and saute until golden brown. Add kale and stir to cook lightly, before adding tahini and reserved liquid. Cook everything together until kale brightens but remove from heat before it wilts. It should stay al dente.

Serve bowls of the bulgur salad topped with ceci & lacinato. Stick it in yer yum! Can't wait to hear how you like it. If you're off wheat other grains work great as well. You can do almost the same thing with quinoa, millet, rice etc. Just cook per directions for that grain (liquid:grain ratios may vary).
Rock it out and add things that sound good to change up the flavor profile.