June 11th
2008
I'm always a bit wary when friends or colleagues use phrases such as "You must try this!" or "This is the best xyz!" when it comes to describing food or recipes - simply because I've been burned more than once in the past. Once bitten twice shy I guess. Not that I generally don't trust their judgement, but over the years I came to realize, that the perception of food is highly subjective and a topic on which people rarely agree. Certainly it's simply a matter of taste, not worth fighting over. Yet I don't know how else I could better introduce my newest salad addiction to you other than with the words You must make this salad. This nutty goddess of a bulgur salad, mixed with cranberries and a hint of lemon has made my weekend. Well, Friday evening. Saturday afternoon. And even the grey and cloudy Sunday morning became a friendlier one while I was scraping the salad bowl to get every last bit...
My inspiration stemmed from a semi-business full-fun get-together we enjoyed at Sebastian's place a few weeks ago. His newly acquired round table was the center of great conversations between bloggers (like Kaltmamsell, Max & Coco) and non-bloggers and - of course - filled to capacity with tasty food. My personal highlight: The bulgur salad with dried cranberries. But since this salad was a store-bought addition to our table, there was no one to bug with my recipe inquiries. No arms to twist. What to do? The only feasible solution was to eat spoon after spoon and taking mental notes - making sacrifices in the name of research has never been sweeter ;) And while the final results did not exactly reflect the salad we had enjoyed at Chez Sebastian, I was extremely pleased with what I had whipped up in my saucepan.
Toast the pine nuts in a skillet over medium heat without additional fat and constantly stir until they gain a nice golden brown color, but be careful not to burn them. Once done, remove from skillet.
Finely slice the spring onions and coarsely chop the dried cranberries. Melt butter in a large saucepan and saute the spring onions over medium heat until quite soft.
Pour over the stock of your choice (vegetable or chicken) and bring to a boil, then add the bulgur and let boil for a couple of minutes (stiring every now and then) before adding the cranberries. Remove from heat and let stand until the bulgur is soft (10 to 15 minutes). Drain excessive stock if necessary.
Grate the zest of one lemon into the saucepan, add the toasted pine nuts and use a fork to loosen the bulgur until everything is evenly combined. Season to taste with additional sea salt (if necessary at all). Enjoy warm or cold.
Bulgur salad with cranberries
Recipe Source: own creation
Prep/cooking time: 20-30 min., plus chilling
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Ingredients (serves 3-4):
30 g pine nuts
50 g spring onions (3-4)
50 g dried cranberries
2 tbsp butter
500 ml vegetable or chicken stock
200 g bulgur
1 untreated, organic lemon
sea salt, if necessary
Nicky, I have been experimenting with non-white-rice alternatives to salads and I have to say I don't think I'll be going back! Quinoa and farro and bulgar just make it more interesting!
Ooo, and I have some extra cranberries right now!
I love dried cranberries. I put them in my müsli, I combine them with my corn salad and I have them in a soup. And now "I must make this bulgur salad"... Well, there is nothing better than new recipes to taste!
Hey there lovely, I've been looking for some good whole grain recipes since I can't forgo my love of white bread and pasta. This looks perfect for lunch, but one question. The bulgur I've been able to find seems quite tiny in comparison to yours. And when I cook it, it is often a creamy consistency (more like grits than grains!). Should I use the bulgur I have or keep my eyes out for the big bulgur?
I have to admit I am not a big fan of salads but this looks set to change my mind! Yum yum yum!
This looks so healthy! Must try someday! Thanks for the tip.
My best friend recently introduced me to bulgur and now I'm a big fan. You should try it with chicken and avocado, a flavorful combination. I'm printing your recipe right now.
If you are going to eat this cold, will using butter work? Would it be better to use olive oil?
This looks excellent, thanks for the recipe. How do you think a soft cheese would be added to it?
Danke für die Anregung. "Mein" Bulgursalat geht so: Aubergine, Frühlingszwiebeln, Feta, getr. Aprikosen, Minze, Pinienkernen, Olivenöl und Chili. Ist ein bisschen aufwändiger, aber auch sehr lecker.
Bulgur + pine nuts and I'm IN - and the rest of it looks divine too. But it's the combo here that I think probably makes this salad work. Yum.
It look's to good to be through I am definitely going to try this
This looks so delicious! I've never had nuts in salad...too scared to try (lol)..but I hear it's pretty good.
I don't even know you, and yet I trust that I will also love every bite of this! Can't wait to make it!
i love cranberries and this looks amazing. i know what you mean about that initial wariness since everyone has different tastes.
i'm sure this'll be great though. x
Thanks for the recipe - no more fruitless questions to the fuit+veg-dealers on Humboldtstraße
Hi Nicky,
This salad sounds super healthy! I use bulgur from time to time, would normally make it for tabouleh.
I've just stumbled across your blog and I love it - bulgar wheat make great salads, and I've never thought of using cranberries in a savoury dish, thanks for the idea!
Thanks for this wonderful salad recipe...
I'm a person that love the healthy food, so this salad recipe will be a good recipe for my family.
The only problem for me is a little bit tricky for me to find the bulgur at my local area...
This recipe looks very simple and delicious, with the cranberries giving it a hint of sweet and sour. We have a lentil and bulgur salad with walnuts and apple on our site. Bulgur is a great whole grain for people looking to eat healthy, as it is so simple to prepare.
I recently discovered Bulgur in the organic section of my grocery store and have been experimenting with it. Thank you for a wonderful receipe.
Mmmmmmm this looks GOOD! I love bulgar.
This was a big hit at our house. I crumbled a little feta on top which we also liked.
Beautiful looking salad, and it also sounds so tasty! It has gone right into my to do list, thanks!
This was my first bulgar salad and I'm sure it won't be my last. It was very, very good, thank you for sharing your idea. I highly recommend trying it.
very cool: this reminds me of a healthier and much faster sweet risotto! as this is the 2nd recipe involving bulgur I've come across this morning, I guess I'll have to try cooking with it soon!
I agree 100% that taste is very relative and subjective. This is determined by culture and how a person grew up. However, there are just famous cuisines that seem to match the taste of majority like the Italian cuisine. i am Asian yet I find their food here to be generally appealing.
maybe it would tatse similar to rice salad? that Bulgur salad with cranberries? I have not tried both though but my best buddies here in Italy have been suggeting rice salad for days now.
Looks yummilicious in that image!
You've got me hooked! I'm making this for my mother and sister's birthday dinner next week, and I'm thinking about adding grilled lobster to it--I think that would be divine!
tee hee - I just realized that this was bulgar. I made it with pearl barley and we loved that too. Whoops.
Tasty! This sounds like a great dish to mix up for the Fourth. My husband is a personal trainer, so we eat a lot of healthy grains versus rice. We will give this a try.
Cheers,
Michele Scott
I have never herd of cooking bulgur be4, normally when I do tabule I just let it soak in water and then drain in a towel after it doubled the size, also 4 the tabule i just cut the spring onions and mix everything with olive oil ,lemon and bit of salt, sounds strange to cook it in stock. Think i will "adapt" your creation uh?!
works even better with coucous!
[...] over at Delicious Days blogged about a delicious dried cranberry bulgar salad she developed after she ate a similar salad at a dinner party a short time [...]
I agree... I'm must make this salad!
Whoa! At first glance I thought it was a rice salad. I was mistaken. Looks like it's a healthy treat. thanks for the share.
Dieser Salat hat mir heute meine Mittagspause verschönt ( ...und der Rest ist noch zu Hause im Kühlschrank...) :-).
Sehr sehr lecker, danke für das Rezept
As I didn't have pine nuts at home I decided to make the Austrian version of this salad by replacing the pine nuts with pumpkin seeds and the butter with pumpkin seed oil (makes a nice greenish colour). yummi!
Thanks for your mouthwatering recipes and pictures :)
So simply - and soo tasty! I did the receipe for 4 persons cause I planned to bring some for lunch today - but we finished everything in two yesterday night!! YUMMY!
I made this salad recently. It was great! Thank you so much for the recipe!
I didn't add pine nuts tho, and also added spciy lamb sausage slices cos my husband prefers something with some meat in it.
wow - this is unbelievable tasty - hope my husband gets a chance to taste ist - he'd better be early home tonight ;o)
Thank you!
This salat tastes great!
I just made a pan full, tasted it and there was nothing left for the rest of the family...
made this last night. it was delicious!!!
Excellent recipe! My guests loved the bulgur salad. I took a bit less lemon zest because I feared that the taste of the lemon is overwhelming and it came out perfect. One another thing: the salad tasts best right after preparation. Over time the pine nuts lose their nice roast aroma.
this sounds perfect for a picnic!