Grubbin' Pugs: Mexican Bulgur Salad

One of my favorite dishes I first made on my own was this awesome bulgur salad that my sister made for me when I was in college. I'd never had bulgur before and the flavor combinations were so fresh and yummy! Sometimes when I'd dogsit for her she'd make me a bunch of meals beforehand, including the bulgur salad which I would promptly eat all in one sitting. Ah youthful metabolism! I soon braved the kitchen myself and that recipe became a regular in my very rare cooking rotation. So when I stumbled across this Mexican bulgur salad recipe I knew I had to try it! This has renewed my love for bulgur but this salad is spicier and different from the dish I used to eat which included parsley, lemon juice, kidney beans, and feta.

This dish is really quick and easy to put together so long as you do all the prep in advance. I did all my chopping on Sunday and then tonight when I came home from work I cooked up the bulgur and then tossed everything together - so easy! The only pain about this recipe is chopping jalapenos. I used to chop them willy nilly until one horrible day I rubbed my eye long after having chopped and washed my hands. Oh the burn! And then my fingertips wouldn't stop burning too! I must've had a super spicy batch that time. But ever since then, I make sure to wear gloves when chopping jalapenos!

If you want your dish spicier feel free to add more peppers. And season this dish generously as it tastes better with a good helping of salt. This can be served either warm or cold, so I think I'll be making this a lot during the hot summer months!

Servings: 4 (but this is a 2-3 mealer for me)

Ingredients:
1-1 1/2 cup uncooked bulgur
1 1/2 cups diced zucchini
1 15-ounce can of corn, rinsed and drained (or use fresh corn if you have it)
1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup chopped green onions
3/4 cup diced Monterey Jack cheese with jalapeno peppers
1 cup chopped or shredded cooked chicken
3 tablespoons cilantro, minced
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup lime juice
3 tablespoons jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon cumin
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Cook 1-1 1/2 cup bulgur according to directions. (I put this range because the original recipe calls for 1 cup but Trader Joe's has an awesome little bag of 10 minute bulgur and that's 1 1/2 cups so I figured I'd just use the whole bag).
Once bulgur is cooked and drained, add 1 1/2 cups diced zucchini, 1 can of corn, 1 can of black beans, 1/2 cup halved grape tomatoes, 3/4 cup diced Monterey Jack cheese, 3 tbsps minced cilantro, 1/4 cup chopped green onions, and 1 cup chopped chicken. Stir gently until ingredients are mixed.
In a separate small bowl mix together 1/4 cup orange juice, 1/4 cup lime juice, 3 tbsps minced jalapeno peppers, 1 tbsp olive oil, and 1/4 tsp cumin.
Add juice mixture to the bulgur and toss together until all ingredients are well mixed.
Salt and pepper generously according to taste (Salt is key!).
Serve either warm or put it in the fridge and eat it cold later!

Notice the pugs' strategic sitting in front of the fridge. Made it very difficult anytime I had to go back in for a forgotten ingredient!