Colourful Summer Bulgur Salad

Phew! One more hot, hot, hot day is almost behind us.
There's very little one can do in the kitchen when it's this hot (33°C today, I think).
But you still need to eat, and possibly something nutricious and light at the same time. If this is the formula you try to follow, like me, then I'm sure you'll find this salad interesting and delicious.
It can be prepared a little ahead and even taken on picnic, to the office, or to the beach/swimming pool, if you are lucky to be going there these days.
The recipe comes from the book La cucina mediterranea delle verdure, I just made a few slight changes. The original recipe called for a green bell pepper, but I didn't have any and used a zucchini instead. My two zucchini plants are now giving me one or two zucchini almost every day, and I'm so happy for that. So that seemed like a rather logical substitute.
Then, the author of the recipe says to add uncooked bulgur to the sauteed zucchini and mushrooms and then add hot water. Since I prefer the vegetables to be crispier rather than mushy, I cooked the bulgur separately and added it to the vegetables once it was cooked.
That's all.
I wish you all a pleasant evening and enjoy some good food in good company.

Colourful Summer Bulgur Salad

* 10 g dried mushrooms
* 2 onions
* 1 zucchini (or 2 if very small)
* 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
* 225 g bulgur
* a handful of fresh basil leaves
* 3 ripe tomatoes
* 100 g canned corn (drained)
* salt
* extra virgin olive oil

Soak the dried mushrooms in warm water.
Clean the onion and chop it finely.
Wash the zucchini, cut off the ends and then cut it into not too thin slices or cubes.
Sautèe the chopped onion in a deep skillet with 3 TBspoons of EVOO and the the thyme leaves.
Add the zucchini, salt to taste, cover and let cook on medium-low heat for about 10 minutes.
Drain the mushrooms from the water they soaked in, chop them and add to the skillet with the zucchini. Cook for 5 more minutes.
In the meantime, cook the bulgur in about 1/2 liter slightly salted water for 10-15 minutes. When it has absorbed almost all the water, add it to the skillet with the zucchini and mushrooms. Stir well and cook altogether for a few minutes for flavours to combine and all the liquid to evaporate.
Set aside to cool.
Wash and pat dry the basil leaves. Chop them and put in a salad bowl.
Wash and dry the tomatoes, cut them into cubes (you can peel them as well, if you wish), add them to the bowl with the basil leaves and season with salt and extra virgin olive oil.
Drain the sweet corn from their liquid and add to the bowl with the tomatoes.
Add the cooled bulgur with the zucchini and mushrooms, mix everything well and serve at room temperature.
Enjoy!

Bulgur estivo colorato


* 10 g funghi secchi
* 2 cipolle
* 1 zucchina (o due se sono piccole)
* 1 cucchiaino di foglioline di timo fresco
* 225 g bulgur
* mazzetto di basilico
* 3 pomodori maturi
* 100 g mais cotto
* sale
* olio extravergine d'oliva


Mette a bagno i funghi in poca acqua tiepida.
Sbucciate le cipolle e tritatele finemente.
Lavate, asciugate e spuntate la zucchina. Tagliatela a rondelle o a dadini.
Rosolate le cipolle a fuoco medio basso con 3 cucchiai di olio EVO e il timo.
Aggiungete la zucchina, salate, coprite e lasciate cuocere per 10 minuti.
Unite i funghi scolati e tritati e lasciate cuocere altri 5 minuti.
Nel frattempo, mettete a cuocere il bulghur in circa 1/2 l di acqua leggermente salata per circa 10-15 minuti, lasciando assorbire quasi tutto il liquido.
Aggiungete il bulghur alle verdure, mescolate bene e lasciate insaporire per qualche minuto.
Spegnete il fornello e lasciate intiepidire.
Sfogliate, lavate e asciugate il basilico. Spezzettatelo finemente e mettete in una insalatiera. Lavate i pomodori, tagliateli a dadini e aggiungete al basilico. Conditeli con poco sale e olio, unite il mais e infine il bulghur tiepido. Mescolate bene e servite a temperatura ambiente.

Šareni ljetni bulgur


* 10 g suhih gljiva
* 2 glavice crvenog luka
* 1 tikvica (2 ako su male)
* 1 žlica listića svježeg timijana
* 225 g bulgura
* svežnjić svježeg bosiljka
* 3 zrele rajčice
* 100 g kuhanog kukuruza
* sol
* maslinovo ulje


Namočite gljive u mlakoj vodi.
Luk očistite i sitno nasjeckajte.
Tikvice operite, odrežite im krajeve i narežite ih na ploškice ili kockice.
Popržite luk s 3 žlice maslinovog ulja i listićima timijana na laganoj vatri.
Dodajte tikvice, posolite, pokrijte i ostavite da se pirja 10 minuta.
Dodajte gljive koje ste izvadili iz vode i nasjeckali. Pirjajte još pet minuta.
U međuvremenu skuhajte bulgur - dodajte ga u kipuću, malo posoljenu vodu (oko 1/2 litre) i kuhajte 10-15 minuta.
Dodajte bulgur povrću, promiješajte i kratko još sve ispirjajte da se okusi prožmu.
Maknite s vatre i ostavite da se prohladi.
Listove bosiljka operite, posušite kuhinjskim papirom i sitno nakidajte.
Rajčice operite (po želji ih i ogulite), narežite ih na kockice i začinite s malo soli i nakidanim listićima bosiljka.
Dodajte kukuruz i pomiješajte sve skupa s bulgurom.
Po potrebi još dosolite i poslužite.