Bulgur Wheat Salad Turkish Style Food

BULGUR WHEAT SALAD - TURKISH STYLE

Steps:

• Mix all the ingredients together and let it marinate for at least a half hour in the fridge then serve.
• When pomegranates are in season, I substitute the grape, makes for eye catching colour.

KISIR, A TURKISH BULGUR SALAD

Steps:

• Put the bulgur in a large mixing bowl. Pour the boiling water over it. The water should completely cover the bulgur by about 1/4 inch (add a bit more boiling water if needed). Cover the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap, then wrap it in a towel. Set it aside for about 15 minutes to allow the bulgur soften.
• While the bulgur softens, prepare your vegetables. Begin by peeling the onion and garlic and chopping them as finely as you can. Mix the chopped onion and garlic with the pepper paste and set aside.
• Chop the tomato, cucumber, green onions, parsley, and mint in the same manner and put them in a separate bowl. The finer you chop them, the better your salad's texture will be.
• Remove the cloth and cover from the bowl of bulgur. Wearing rubber gloves, fluff the bulgur up with your fingers. Drizzle lemon juice or pomegranate sour and the oil over the top and toss it through with your fingers. Next, add the pepper paste mixture and work it evenly through the bulgur.
• Add the chopped vegetables and herbs and continue tossing with your fingers until all the ingredients are evenly dispersed. Add salt and black pepper and taste for seasoning.
• You can serve your kısır salad right away, or you can cover and refrigerate it for several hours. Make sure to fluff it up with your fingers again just before serving.

BULGUR SALAD

Steps:

• Toast 2 cups bulgur in 1 to 2 tablespoons each butter and olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat until golden and crackly. Add 4 cups water and season with salt; cover and simmer until the liquid is absorbed and the bulgur is just tender, about 20 minutes. Cut a seedless cucumber into chunks; toss with 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar, 2 teaspoons olive oil, 1/4 cup chopped dill and a small handful of pitted, halved black olives. Serve the cucumbers over the bulgur. Photograph by Tina Rup

KISIR (TURKISH BULGUR WHEAT SALAD)

Steps:

• Mix bulgur and water and set aside for 30 minutes, until all of the water is absorbed. (There is a special kind of bulghur used in Turkish Kisir, but any bulgur or cracked wheat that can be prepared in this way will work).
• Add remaining ingredients, adding the red pepper paste last. (Trader Joe's makes Red Pepper Spread with Eggplant and Garlic, which works pretty well. The Turkish spread is called Ajvar (Ayvar/Hayvar/Havyar), and it is much more spicy).
• Refrigerate and serve cold.