An Unintentional Dinner

I am absolutely famous for the unintentional dinner. You know the ones. You are tired, mildly crabby and you don’t really know what to make for dinner. You don’t want to order out and you want something relatively healthy so you don’t fall off the wagon. Oh, and your pantry is minimal. You drag yourself into the kitchen and just kind of, start going.

Then bam.

It’s amazing.

It always stuns me when that happens and I end up talking about it for ages, but can rarely recreate that kind of magic. Until tonight! Dinner tonight was so delicious (and easy, and quick) that I thought some of you might really love it. So what you’ll find below is not quite a perfect recipe but more a set of loose instructions or suggestions. It’s kind of how I work in the kitchen and I hope it works for you.

This recipe came about as I attempted to recreate a dish from a local chain restaurant here called Chickpea. I had it just a couple days ago and the base to their dinner was a deliciously roasty-toasty bulgur. I nearly licked the plate and vowed to try and recreate it. I don’t think I did too badly, if I do say so myself!

Toasted, Tomato Bulgur with a Warm Chickpea, Corn and Tomato Salad

 

1. Toast bulgur in a dry pan until lightly brown and nutty smelling. Add appropriate amount of water (or broth, according to package directions), substituting about 1/4 of the liquid, for tomato sauce. Or paste. Cook according to package instructions, fluff with a fork and set aside.

2. Saute half a red onion (chopped) in a good glug of olive oil until translucent. Dump in a can of chickpeas, a teaspoon of crushed garlic, oregano and some chili flakes. Toss it around a bit.

3. Throw in a bunch of halved grape tomatoes and a cup or so of frozen corn. I used the roasted corn from Trader Joes. Saute this until the tomatoes begin to soften up and the corn is warm.

4. Turn off the heat and give it a good dose of GOOD balsamic vinegar and another glug of olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. You could also give it an extra squeeze of lemon if the balsamic is too sweet.

5. Serve the salad ontop of the bulgur and sprinkle some feta cheese on top. Serve with salad and avocado on the side. I would have loved some hummus and pita as an appetizer, or fattoush salad on the side!

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Really guys. This one is worth recreating. It’s full of plant based protein. You could use quinoa instead of the bulgur if you wanted even MORE protein too! It’s got healthy fats from the olive oil and the avocado. I’m just not sure what more you could want! Oh, right. This also takes about 15 minutes. What are you waiting for?

Please let me know if you try it or play around with the recipe. I’d love to hear your thoughts or creative additions! Bon Appetit!