Whole Grain Tabouli Salad

Remember the giveaway of the Hamilton Beach Breakfast Sandwich maker?   Thank you for all who participated… congratulations to Margot for winning!

For this week… I am on a ginormous bulgur kick!!  Have you had bulgur before?  I’m sure you have, it is very popular in Middle Eastern dishes, such as tabouli (tabbouleh) and kibbe.   It is made from whole wheat kernels that have been boiled, dried and cracked.  It is similar to cracked wheat, but the difference is that bulgur is pre-cooked.  In my opinion, it has such a chewy, earthy, grain taste and I am addicted.

I recently made a tabouli salad, and the huge batch was gone in just two days!

If you haven’t incorporated bulgur into your diet, I highly recommend it.  It is so darn good and also and healthy:  it’s whole wheat, low in calories, low in fat, high in protein, and high in fiber.  What more can you ask for?

In just one cup of cooked bulgur, you get 8g of fiber, 6g of protein, 0g fat and only 151 calories .

With nutrition data that I compiled from NutritionData, you can compare bulgur, quinoa, brown rice, and whole wheat spaghetti.  (Click to enlarge)

Bulgur has 3g more fiber than quinoa, and 4g more than brown rice.  Although quinoa has more protein than bulgur, bulgur still has 6g of protein.

How do you cook bulgur? Because bulgur is partially cooked, not much time is needed. Combine 1 cup bulgur to 2 cups liquid and simmer for 10-15 minutes.  Fluff with a fork.  (very similar to quinoa!)  Be sure to check with the packaging, bulgur varieties and cooking requirements may vary.