Sometimes I like to browse the lanes of Whole Foods looking at the various grains and whatnot that I’ve never seen; never mind cooked with. (nerd alert) Sometimes it’s really exotic stuff and other times it’s just run-of-the-mill stuff that I never got around to working with. Problem is I tend to buy them and then never get around to cooking with them.
One of the things that’s been sitting in my pantry for quite some time is bulgur wheat; which, by the way, doesn’t have the most appealing name. It’s a wheat grain that’s been steamed, dried then milled (crushed); retaining most of wheat’s nutritional value. It reminds me a bit of couscous, actually, which we’ve cooked with plenty before. Cooking it is incredibly easy.
The well known dish with bulgur wheat is tabbouleh, that famous Middle Eastern fare. I’ve never been a fan, myself, (waaaaaay too much parsley) so I decided to shoot for a savory soup. This, however, did not happen. I don’t know how, but somehow I ended up with a rather rich soup, almost chocolaty. I’m not even sure the paprika had any effect!
So I decided to go with the flow and viola, we have today’s soup recipe. It’s definitely in a different class.
1/4 cup brown rice
1/2 cup bulgur wheat
1 onion; finely chopped
1 head of broccoli; florets chopped
1 cup peas
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
4-5 cups stock/water
olive oil
Preheat oven to 450.
Cook your brown rice per packaging instructions (which is probably bring twice as much stock to a boil, add rice and cover simmered for 30-45 minutes). Set aside.
Add paprika, coriander and cinnamon to one cup of stock and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, add bulgur wheat, stirring to mix and set aside.
Toss the broccoli with thyme, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 3 tablespoons olive oil. Roast in the oven until golden; approximately 25 minutes.
Sweat onions for 20 minutes, add 3 cups stock and bring to a boil. Add all your ingredients and simmer for 20 minutes, adjusting salt to your taste. Enjoy.