Bulgur wheat, apricot and chickpea salad

 

I always say that I don’t like salads, but what I really mean is that I don’t like lettuce – unless I’m in absolutely the right mood for it which usually means a sunny day! When I was a child salads were “lettuce, tomato, cucumber” – the words almost run into each other. But it’s not the 1980s any more and you can put pretty much anything in a salad – and it doesn’t even have to have lettuce as a base.

 

I was going through some recipe cuttings – actually pages I had photocopied from a diet cookery book of some kind – and trying to make space in the kitchen by throwing them out. Most of the recipes in that folder were not interesting enough to keep or even to cook – or very similar to ones I already have in recipe books. I did keep a few however, one of which was this salad – but now the recipe is on my blog, I can throw out the photocopy as well!

 

T

he recipe didn’t actually include instructions for a salad dressing but instead advised that a fat-free vinaigrette would go nicely with this. So you could make your own dressing or use a shop-bought one – or even eat this plain.

 

To make at least two decent-sized lunches (this travels well in a lunchbox to work) you need:

200g bulgur wheat

200g tinned chickpeas

50g ready-to-eat dried apricots, chopped

1 stick celery, chopped

2 spring onions, chopped

1 piece stem ginger in syrup, drained – this is optional and I actually left it out

1 tbsp fresh parsley or mint, chopped

 

 

Put the bulgur wheat in a large bowl and pour over 250ml boiling water. Leave for 20-25 minutes to soften and swell and break up any clumps with a fork.

Add the other ingredients and toss well, and add your dressing if required.

I'm sending this to No Croutons Required, the veggie salad and soups linkup, hosted by Jacqueline at Tinned Tomatoes.