Quinoa and Bulgar Wheat Salad

One of the things I love about summer is salad. This one is easy and nutritious - the quinoa provides all your protein, and the bulgar wheat provides wholesome carbs. The herbs means it bursts with flavour and the vegetables just make it yummy and good. The aim is to make it as colourful as possible!

Ingredients - makes about 3/4 portions 
Keep it in the fridge and eat day-by-day

• 50g quinoa
• 50g bulgar wheat
• 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• Juice of half a lemon (you can buy bottles of lemon juice which may keep better. If so, I think a mean dessert spoon full) 
• Pinch of salt
• Mint, parsley and basil
• Half a cucumber (you can buy them in halves, which I do because I never eat them all in one go)
• Two tomatoes, or 5 cherry tomatoes
• Half a pepper
• 1 carrot
• Ready-cooked beetroot (this is the stuff you buy in vacuum packed packets in supermarkets)
• Half an avocado and any other raw veg you fancy - chuck it in!

Recipe

• Weigh out the quinoa and bulgar wheat, put it in a sieve and rinse it under a cold running tap.

It doesn't look like much, but it expands!

• Then place it in a saucepan, cover it with cool water until it's covered by about 5 cm, then bring to the boil. Once boiling, turn down the heat so it doesn't boil over, and cover. Set the timer for 15 minutes.
• Now to start cutting up the veg! Cut it all into fairly small chunks, and grate the carrot. It doesn't matter if you don't have all of it - I'd say the beetroot doesn't matter too much, it's just one of those things I have sometimes. Nor does the avocado. 
• Then chop the herbs. This is when having your own herb plants really comes into its own. You'll notice the flavour so much! 

• Keep checking the bulgar wheat and quinoa - if it's starting to boil dry, add a bit more water. You can always drain it off at the end.
• Once the 15 minutes is up, drain the water off and place the mix in a medium glass bowl. 
• Add the olive oil, pinch of salt and lemon juice. Then the herbs, fruit and vegetables. Give it a good mix and you're ready to go! See - easy!

If you're going to add avocado, I'd keep this separately in the fridge wrapped in cling film once you've started it because it goes brown very quickly. Serve the salad with some leaves. You could stir some cheese or pumpkin seeds through it too if you have any in stock.

Quinoa and bulgar wheat may not be your bog-standard fare, but they're so good for you. It might be worth looking into buying them in bigger packets to last a long time, and try to get them cheaply. However you won't use much bulgar wheat each time, so cost-wise, I reckon it evens out! 

This recipe could also be used for a healthy lunch if you keep it in the fridge.

Tip of the day: mix up your exercise and do something different every day. I get bored so easily so I go running, cycling, gym, or rowing!

Tune of the day: First Aid Kit - Emmylou 

---K