Try bulgur pilaf as a side dish. There are a million different recipes, some including dried fruit and some with vegetables and/or herbs. Grab a good cookbook and take your pick. You can also enjoy bulgur in cold salads.MEDIUM
If you’re following the Seven Secrets of Magic Eating, you’re trying to get three servings of whole grains a day. For chewy texture and a slightly nutty taste, try bulgur as a deliciously filling side dish or hot cereal. It can even be used to make stuffing. Best of all, it cooks quickly.
Bulgur ranks right up there with whole wheat bread, wheatberries, and bran—all Magic foods, and all forms of the same nutritious wheat grain. That’s right, bulgur isn’t an individual type of grain. It’s wheat grain that’s been partially cooked by boiling or steaming, then dried and cracked.
Eating more whole grains has been shown to cut diabetes risk by 35 percent in men and women and reduce heart disease risk by 25 percent in women and 18 percent in men. Just six weeks on a whole grain diet can markedly improve insulin sensitivity, according to one study.
As with all whole grain foods, eating more translates into lower risk not only of diabetes and heart disease but also of certain cancers. In a Swedish study of more than 61,000 women, researchers found that those who ate at least 4 1/2 servings of whole grains a day had a 23 percent lower risk of developing colon cancer compared to women who ate fewer than 1 1/2 servings a day. The lignans in bulgur may also help protect against breast cancer.
You’ll find bulgur in different textures. Coarse bulgur is used for pilaf and rice dishes, medium is used as breakfast cereal, and fine is used for tabbouleh (a Middle Eastern salad made with bulgur, chopped parsley, cucumbers, tomatoes, olive oil, and lemon juice). The finer the grain, the quicker bulgur cooks up.
Try bulgur pilaf as a side dish. There are a million different recipes, some including dried fruit and some with vegetables and/or herbs. Grab a good cookbook and take your pick. You can also enjoy bulgur in cold salads.
Throw together some tabbouleh as an excellent, portable summertime lunch salad or side dish. Toss in chopped vegetables from your garden, such as tomatoes and cucumbers, and add some goat or feta cheese or chicken for extra protein.
Cook up hot bulgur cereal in salted water as you would oatmeal. Top with fresh fruit or with chopped walnuts, dried cranberries, cinnamon, and a drizzle of honey. Some manufacturers make bulgur cereals with extra ingredients, such as soy, which adds extra protein.
Stuff zucchini with bulgur and extra-lean ground beef or pork.
Instead of rice: Use cooked bulgur in stir-fries.
Instead of Cream of Wheat: Have bulgur as your hot cereal in the morning (Cream of Wheat has a relatively high GL).