Bulgur, grilled carrots and broccoli, capers, pecans and lemon

Tam West

This salad comes from my eighth cookbook Savour: Sensational Salads for All Seasons. The bulgur wheat needs no cooking and you can beef it up with lots more parsley and mint than suggested here, making it more tabbouleh-like. It serves 6 as a starter or side dish.

Ingredients

200 g	Bulghur wheat, (scant 1 cup) rinsed and drained (Main)
3	Carrots, peeled and sliced 5mm thick on an angle
500 g	Broccoli, tender-stem, ends trimmed, cut in half lengthways (Main)
3 Tbsp	Olive oil
2 Tbsp	Pomegranate molasses
1 large	Lemon, peel and pith removed, pips discarded, flesh diced
30	Mint leaves, shredded
60 g	Pecans, toasted and roughly chopped
1 Tbsp	Capers, rinsed and patted dry

Directions

1. Put the bulgur in a large bowl and pour over 400ml (1 ⅔ cups) of boiling water. Stir in 1 teaspoon of salt. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a tea towel and leave to soak for 30 minutes, stirring twice.
2. Meanwhile, bring a pan of salted water to the boil, then cook, separately, the carrots and then the broccoli, for 1 minute each. Drain and then toss the vegetables, again separately, in 2 teaspoons of olive oil each.
3. Heat a frying pan (skillet) or heavy-based pan and cook the vegetables until coloured and marked. Once cooked, place in a bowl and toss with the pomegranate molasses, lemon and remaining olive oil.
4. Drain the bulgur in a colander and leave for a few minutes. Place in a bowl with the mint, pecans and capers and toss well. Season with salt and pepper.
5. To serve, spread the bulgur out on a platter then lay the vegetables on top. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Another of Peter's salads fromSavour

• Grilled sweetcorn and asparagus with ricotta goji berries and truffled honey dressing