Red Bean Bulghur Pilaf

Bulghur Wheat is probably best known as the main ingredient of tabbouleh, the popular summer salad.  In this recipe it's served hot and cooked with onion, garlic, kidney beans and tomatoes and mildly spiced with chilli.

As it's name suggests, bulghur wheat comes from whole wheat grain that has been hulled, par-boiled and roasted.  It's a useful substitute for mince in a bolognese sauce or vegetable casserole as it readily absorbs flavours as well as cooking liquid (and even has the appearance and texture of mince!).

In this quick and easy recipe, the bulghur wheat soaks up all the juicy goodness from the tomatoes and vegetable stock to produce a moist and wholesome supper dish. 


Ingredients                     Serves 4

1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 red pepper, deseeded and diced
175g bulghur wheat
1 x 400g red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp sun dried tomato paste
1 Kallo organic stock cube dissolved in 600ml hot water
1/4 tsp chilli powder (or more to taste)
1 tbsp olive oil
freshly ground salt and pepper

Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan or casserole and fry the onion over a medium heat for about 5 minutes until soft but not brown.  Add the garlic and red pepper and stir well. Cook for about five minutes until the peppers are beginning to soften.

Add the bulghur wheat and give it a good stir round, then add the chilli powder, chopped tomatoes, sundried tomato paste and hot vegetable stock. 

Cover with a lid and simmer gently for about 20 minutes until the liquid has been absorbed and the bulghur wheat tastes cooked.

Stir in the drained kidney beans and season with salt and pepper.

Leave for a few minutes for the beans to heat through, then serve with salad or a green vegetable.