My cousin N visited me for a long weekend, and busied herself in my kitchen making lentil soup, fresh yogurt, and bulghur with tomatoes. Strangely, nobody ever made the bulghur dish for me during my many long visits to Lebanon, and my father didn't cook it. N says it was a favorite of our grandmother and I should call it Sitteh's Bulghur with Tomatoes.
My husband is trying to low-carb his diet again but he can't resist this dish. He was eating the leftovers this morning...
1 cup medium grind bulghur wheat, rinsed in cold water to remove dust/chaff
1 28 oz. can tomatoes, whole or cut, in juice or puree - your choice
1 onion, chopped
olive oil
1/2 cup water
salt and pepper
Saute chopped onion in a couple of tablespoons olive oil until translucent and softened. Add bulghur wheat, tomatoes, and water. Cover the pot, turn down the heat to simmer, and cook for fifteen to twenty minutes, stirring occasionally. If it gets too dry and might burn, add water, a little at a time. When bulghur is tender, salt and pepper to taste, then serve.
This may be eaten hot, warm or cold. Lebanese like fresh green pepper, green onion, and cucumber as accompaniments. During the summer you would of course use fresh, peeled and chopped tomatoes.
Variations: Green pepper might do nicely sauteed with the onion; add various herbs of your choice near the end of the cooking time; add a handful or more of chickpeas to make a substantial dish featuring complete proteins. This is essentially a bulghur pilaf with lots of tomato, so be creative and experiment.
Update: This restaurant in NY features bulghur with tomatoes as a side dish. Look at the bottom right side of page 2.
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