How to Make a Bulgur Chard Mash-up (RECIPE)

I can’t believe that I’m about to reference the movie Pitch Perfect while discussing cooking, but here goes. Last night, I watched this perfectly “popcorn for the brain” flick. The movie’s main character, Beca, likes to make electronic music, and she takes her penchant for mash-ups to a college acapella group that she’s somehow strong-armed into joining. She takes a bass line from one song, a melody from another, lyrics from another and puts them together in surprising but harmonious ways.

As I was figuring out what to do with the container of bulgur wheat that I accidentally cooked (rather than soaked) two days ago, the large bag of chard in my fridge, and not much else in the way of dinner ingredients, this idea of mash-ups came back to me.

So I did it to the bulgur and the chard.

I took the idea of Indian flavor pastes and  made a simple one out of minced cipollini onions and garlic, a generous squirt of tomato paste, cumin, cayenne and salt. I added collard greens, which I learned to slice into thin ribbons and saute in olive oil from a South American recipe, maintaining their fresh green flavor rather than cooking them to a pulp as you often see. I stirred in the cooked bulgur like I might when making fried rice (or rather, when my husband does, as that’s his specialty). And then I topped the whole lovely mess with toasted walnuts, which I got from a vegan cooking website.

And it was a heck of a lot tastier than I expected. A pleasant surprise for a Wednesday night dinner. Happy new year!

Bulgur chard mash-up

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BULGUR CHARD MASH-UP

Yields: 2 servings

Ingredients

2 cipollini onions, minced

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 T tomato paste

1 tsp. ground cumin

1/4 tsp. cayenne

1 tsp. salt

1 bunch chard leaves. Clean them, cut the leaves off either side of the stem, roll the leaf halves together tightly and slice into 1/8-inch ribbons

1/2 cup cooked bulgur wheat

1/4 cup toasted walnuts (you can toast them in the

Cooking Instructions

1 — Heat frying pan with high sides on medium heat. Toast the walnuts for a few minutes, then set aside.

2 — Add olive oil to the pan. Cook onions until softened, then add garlic and cook for a minute or two.

3 — Add tomato paste, cumin, cayenne and salt. Stir and cook into a flavorful paste.

4 — Add the chard leaves a handful at a time, stirring each batch to coat all leaves in the oil and cooking paste. Put all the leaves into the pan. Cook for a few minutes until the leaves are tender.

5 — Add the cooked bulgur, breaking up any lumps and mixing well so that the chard and bulgur come together. Cook until the flavors meld. Add salt to taste.

6 — Serve in a bowl topped with toasted walnuts.

7 — Feel virtuous because you’re eating a nutritious vegan meal that actually tastes good!

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