Asian Inspired Tabouli Salad

Adapted from website www.wholegrainscouncil.org, courtesy of Sunnyland Mills

The secret to this bright and tangy salad is the unusual (but easy to make!) dressing. I increased the lemon to give it a bit of a zing.You can make all sorts of great salads with whole grains, vegetables, and a quick dressing.  With this recipe, bulgur just became my favorite grain.  It is very high in protein, and so easy to cook.  Like couscous, once you bring it to a boil, you remove it from the heat and let it absorb the water.  No worries about overcooking or sticking to the pot - unless, like me, you forget to pay attention when it comes to a boil.  Oh well!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup #3 coarse bulgur
1 cup water
1 16-ounce (1 pound) bag of frozen Asian vegetables (or stir-fry mix) - used 1 cup frozen peas plus 1 red pepper and 1 yellow pepper diced.

Dressing:
1/2 teaspoon honey
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon soy sauce
4 teaspoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons dried cilantro - I don't think dried cilantro has any taste, so I used about 2 Tbsp chopped          cilantro
1 teaspoon ground ginger (I tried fresh grated ginger instead, but the ground ginger does better here)
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

Directions:
1. In a small saucepan, bring the bulgur and water to a boil. Remove from heat, cover and let sit for 25 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed.

2. Place the bag of frozen vegetables in a microwave safe dish and cook until defrosted but not hot. I combined the frozen and fresh as noted above and put them all in the microwave 'defrost' mode for a few minutes.

2. In a large bowl, add the honey, olive oil, soy sauce, lemon juice, cilantro, ginger, 2 pinches of salt and some cracked black pepper. Whisk together. Add the vegetables and the bulgur. Stir well to coat everything in the dressing. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to eat.

Nutrition facts per serving: Calories: 180, Fat: 6g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Sodium: 400mg, Carbohydrate:36g, Fiber: 8g, Protein: 7g