bulgur wheat salad with pomegranate molasses

In this bulgur wheat salad with pomegranate molasses there’s plenty of texture and flavour and a hint of the eastern Mediterranean in the spices. Lebanon’s most famous salad, “tabbouleh“, is often thought of as a bulgur wheat salad. Whereas in fact the main ingredient is parsley.

This recipe puts bulgur wheat at the centre, with a delicious sweet sour pomegranate dressing. It’s easily made, with a moderate amount of chopping. The handy thing about bulgur wheat is that it’s parboiled, so only needs to be soaked in boiling water and given time to swell.  When warm it absorbs flavours well, and is a perfect vehicle for the citrusy zing of Zejd’s pomegranate molasses. With crunch from the nuts, green from the parsley, the beautiful pomegranate seeds add a jewel-like touch to this healthy salad.

It comes from Claudia Roden’s recipe book The Med. She uses a variety of nuts, but use whatever you’ve got in the cupboard – it’s a forgiving salad.  The mixture of spices and the pomegranate molasses do a great deal for a winter salad, quickly put together. The pomegranate seeds are not essential but look beautiful.

Any left-overs make a useful portable lunch the following day.

serves 4