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Easy-to-cook bulgur peps up brown bag salad

I pack a lunch -- often leftovers from recipe testing -- most every day to eat at my desk at work. Lately I've been on a salad kick. But not just simple mixtures of greens and dressing. I've been adding cooked cracked wheat, more commonly known as bulgur.

The hearty, chewy grain adds protein and fiber, plus it gives the salad a pleasing, satisfying texture.

It all started when I had about half a cup of leftover tabbouleh from testing strawberry recipes for a story that ran a few weeks ago. It wasn't enough to eat on its own, and the vegetable bin was running low on salad ingredients, but I did have a few cups of baby spinach. I added a squeeze of lemon juice, a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle of black pepper and my new favorite salad was born.

So I made a batch of plain bulgur to add to salads for the rest of the week.

And then came my next new favorite salad: spinach, bulgur, red bell pepper, feta cheese, pistachios and cucumber with a roasted tomato vinaigrette.

Next up was arugula, bulgur, cannellini beans, grape tomatoes, red onion and feta with Italian vinaigrette.

And then I forgot to make the bulgur the night before.

So I decided to experiment. Could I "cook" the

bulgur in my lunch bag while I worked until lunchtime?

I measured about 1/4 cup uncooked bulgur into a glass storage container with a tight-fitting lid, added 1/2 cup just-boiled water, put on the lid and packed it up. Two and a half hours later, the bulgur was perfect. The water was absorbed; the bulgur was fluffy and cool enough not to wilt my greens.

It is basically the same method used for cooking couscous, but with a longer soaking time. I haven't tried cooking other grains this way, but I plan to. I think quinoa would work. Rice, however, is not an option because it can harbor bacillus cereus, a bacterium that grows when cooked rice is left at room temperature or not cooled properly.

Today, I'm enjoying spinach, bulgur, blueberries, sweet onion, almonds and yogurt cheese with a sweet-and-spicy vinaigrette.

Tomorrow, I think I'll try mixed baby greens, bulgur, cherries, walnuts and ricotta with a citrus vinaigrette.

Food on 06/10/2015

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