Hi, I am Dale the webmaster of FieldsFarm.org.  In addition to being able to put together some computer code, I also like to think I can put together some foodstuffs to delicious result.

Like all good chefs, I don’t look at the recipe and get the food, I get the fresh, quality food that is available and then make up the recipe.  From Fields Farm I got some baby carrots, kale and garlic curls.  I also picked up some cherry tomatoes at the Farmer’s Market.

I started by cooking up some Bulgur.  Bulgur is a wheat grain food common in the Middle East, Mediterranean and India.  It is not even packaged anywhere that I know of, but in the markets that have bulk bins, it can usually be found.  You can substitute it for rice–though maybe not when you are making sushi!  It cooks exactly like white rice.  I put 2 cups in a saucepan with some oil and a couple pinches of salt and fry it for a couple of minutes.  I then add 4 cups of water.  After it comes to a boil, I simmer it for 14 minutes.  Though it cooks like white rice, it tases more like brown rice–only a lot better!  It has a nutty whole-grainy taste and a unique texture that is rough but in a very pleasing way.  I figured this would be a good match for the kale. 

I cut a few carrots into wedges and sauteed them in some olive oil.  After awhile I threw in the curls, which I had roughly chopped(don’t cook the skinny tips, they will burn, just throw them in raw at the end.).  When it all was carmelized with nice brown burn marks, I turned off the burner and tossed in the Kale, which I had also roughly chopped.  After a couple of minutes I mixed it all on a plate with an equal amount of Bulgur, drizzled a good amount of olive oil and balsamic vinegar on it and topped with the cherry tomatoes.

The rest of meal consisted of bbq chicken and a couple of big glasses of cheap, acidy Australian Chardonnay that could stand up all of this. 

With such a good salad, I can’t leave you hanging without the recipe for bbq sauce.  If I left you to your own devices you might come up with something than was not worthy.  That would dishoner the Bulgar Salad! 

Start with a store bought bbq sauce.  Find one without crap in it like fructose, mono and diglycirides, etc.  For 1 cup add 1 or 2 teaspoons each of red pepper flakes, crushed ginger, cumin, sesame seeds, sesame oil, soy sauce and fennel seeds.  Cooking it helps even if it is just a minute in the microwave.

bon appetit!