Today, I am serving you a delightful red bulgur salad. I can finally use the word delightful to describe the grains on that plate. This definitely marks a first for me. Indeed, for years, I couldn’t dissociate them from what we call blé kole in Haiti. That one dish was the bane of my existence for the first ten years of my life.
Back then, blé kole was the only bulgur dish I knew.
It was also one of the local specialties I avoided at all cost. I simply couldn’t stand the way it looked on a plate. Its texture rebuked me. Our blé kole was always too mushy and heavy on the palate for my taste. Unfortunately, some family members did not help me brush off that feeling. If anything, they made it worse. When blé kole was featured on their menu, they insisted that I eat the entire content of my often-overfilled plate. With teary eyes and a runny nose, I would reluctantly swallow each forkful under their menacing glance. For years, I couldn’t erase that image from my mind.
As a consequence, when I was finally old enough to have a say in what I ate, I chose to avoid bulgur at all cost. I flat out refused to eat those grains regardless of the preparation method. If it was farro-based, I wouldn’t try even a few grains. However, today, I am finally making an exception. Why? Because of this blog. Just like last year I overcame my millet aversion with my pitimi salad, this year, I am finally working on shaking off my dislike of farro. To do so, I turned to a completely new dish.
I went for a red bulgur salad by choice.
See, I needed to get my palate used to those cereals. The only way to do so was to try a new preparation. I knew I had to avoid the traditional ble kole. If I was to give farro a chance, I had to find a way to prepare it so it wouldn’t be mushy. The grains had to be as fluffy and airy as possible. A salad seemed to be fitting. I wanted to brighten the farro as well. Thus my choice of fresh parsley and ti bonm. These herbs made quite the difference. With this minty, light and fluffy parsley-infused red bulgur salad, I discovered farro in a new light. I think now I will finally give those grains a chance to conquer my palate.
Fresh parlsey and peppermint red bulgur salad
Ingredients
- ½ cup of red bulgur
- ¾ cups of water
- 1 tsp of salt
- Fresh parsley
- Fresh ti bonm peppermint
- 1 key lime
- Pepper to taste
- Olive oil
- Cherry tomatoes optional
Instructions
- Wash your red bulgur and transfer to a cooking pot
- Cover with ¾ cups of water
- Add the salt and bring to a boil
- Once the liquid is absorbed, cover
- Cook on low for about 10 or 15 minutes for it to be al dente
- Once your bulgur is cooked, fluff with a fork
- Drizzle generously with olive oil and let cool
- In the meantime, chop your parsley and peppermint
- Incorporate the fresh herbs to cooled the bulgur using a fork
- Drizzle once more with olive oil and the lime juice
- Add pepper to taste
- Garnish with cherry tomatoes (optional) and serve
