And with the first warm days, I start preparing tasty and vegan one-pot dishes like this bulgur with chickpeas and grilled vegetables salad. How delicious it is! And also light, it costs only 11 Weight Watchers points per serving.
Tasty indeed, but also very easy to prepare. In fact, you can grill or roast the vegetables even the day before and then assemble the dish at the moment. I also found an alternative cooking method for bulgur, which you can read about later in the steps….
Anyway, now I’ll explain the recipe without too much chatter, but I’ll tell you that it was a very appreciated, filling, and tasty dish here at home!
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 2
- Cooking methods: Air Frying
- Cuisine: Healthy
- Seasonality: Spring, Summer
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup bulgur
- 7 oz canned chickpeas (alternatively 2 oz dried chickpeas then cooked)
- 2 onions
- 2 peppers (sweet peppers are tastier)
- 1 eggplant
- 9 oz green beans
- 7 oz cherry tomatoes
- 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil (2 measuring teaspoons)
- to taste basil, parsley, and mint (fresh)
- to taste lemon juice
- to taste salt, oregano, and garlic powder
- to taste curry (optional)
- Points per serving = 11 WW points
Tools
- Air Fryer Philips XXL
Steps
First, clean the vegetables and cut the onions into not too thin wedges, the peppers, and eggplants into cubes, and the cherry tomatoes in half.
Now you need to roast all the vegetables, and be careful: in this and the next step, I did not use oil! If you want to use the oven, proceed as you always have, otherwise cook in the air fryer first the onions and peppers together at 356°F for 10 minutes, and then the eggplant also at 356°F but for 12 minutes. Check the vegetables occasionally to make sure they don’t roast too much; every fryer has its own times!
I also use the air fryer for making confit cherry tomatoes: place them all in the basket with the cut side up, season with salt, oregano, and garlic powder, and cook them always at 356°F for about 12 minutes. They are delicious even just like that…
Meanwhile, clean the green beans and boil them for about 5 minutes in lightly salted water. Drain and immediately rinse them with cold water to stop the cooking: they will remain crunchier! Finally, cut them into 2 or 3 pieces.
For bulgur, I discovered that you can also avoid boiling it and prepare it like couscous. Put the bulgur in a pot, season it with a bit of salt and if you like, a bit of ground cumin, and cover it with boiling water plus an extra inch. Cover and let it soften for at least ten minutes. Taste it, and when it’s ready, if there is still water left, drain it.
And now we can assemble the entire dish. Put the bulgur in a salad bowl, add the well-rinsed and drained chickpeas. Then add grilled onions, peppers, and eggplants, and also the green beans. Dress with an emulsion of finely chopped fresh salt, oil, basil, parsley, and mint, and fresh lemon juice.
Mix everything and divide into plates, adding only at the end the confit cherry tomatoes on this tasty bulgur with chickpeas and grilled vegetables salad. What a delight!
Enjoy your meal!
by Giovanna Buono
Suggestions
A similar salad but vegetarian, also very tasty and light, is this one: Couscous with Grilled Vegetables and Feta.
