Bulgur-Lentil Salad with Preserved Lemon, Cucumber and Mint.

true love salad days.
Bulgur-Lentil Salad with 

Preserved Lemon, Cucumber & Mint.

its a forever kind of thing.

I couldn't live without cucumbers. Or, more accurately, I could live without them but their absence would cause me to spiral into an deep, dark food-based depression from which there would be little to no chance of recovery. I'd shuffle around the kitchen, muttering about how good things used to be between us, cucumbers and I. About how I was sure from the first time we met that it was gonna be a long-haul kind of thing. I'd bore my friends with old stories of our perfect summers together, all vine-y, gourd-y love. Of dirty fingernails and straight-from-the-garden goodness. Of Maine vacations spent biting into lemon cucumbers like apples. Love would begin to feel foreign and alienating and I'd stay up nights wondering
how I could have been so wrong in thinking we were forever.

The point of all this rambling is to say that you are my everything, Cucumis Sativus.
Don't ever leave, I'd be lost (and probably pretty annoying) without you.

And not to take anything away from this epic love manifesto,
but preserved lemon and fresh mint are pretty dope, too...

other stuff is good, too.

Bulgur-Lentil Salad

with Preserved Lemon, Cucumber & Mint.
(serves 4)

1/2c dry medium grain bulgur wheat
3/4c brown lentils, rinsed and picked over
1 large bunch fresh mint, sliced into thin ribbons (chiffonade), about 1 cup
3 pickling cucumbers, skin on, thinly sliced
1 medium sweet onion, halved and thinly sliced

3Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1tsp apple cider vinegar
2Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 1/2tsp finely minced preserved lemon
1 1/2tsp smoked salt
2tsp nutritional yeast
1/2tsp cracked black pepper

extra mint + cracked black pepper for garnish.


Prepare bulgur according to package instructions. Fluff with fork and allow to cool.
Place rinsed lentils in a medium saucepan and add water to cover.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low.
Simmer for 20 minutes, adding more water as needed to keep lentils covered.
Drain and allow to cool.

Combine cooled bulgur wheat and lentils in a medium mixing bowl.
Add sliced onions and cucumbers.
Reserve one pinch of mint for garnish and add rest to bulgur-lentil mixture.
Whisk together olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, preserved lemon, salt, pepper
and nutritional yeast and pour over salad.
Stir gently to combine.
Garnish with reserved mint and extra black pepper.
Serve at room temperature or cold.

endless always.