Smoked Bulgur and Pomegranate Salad
- Total Time
- 1½ hours
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- ½large yellow Spanish onion, peeled and quartered
- 1celery stalk, halved crosswise
- 1small carrot, peeled and halved crosswise
- 3fresh bay leaves (or use 1 dried)
- 1Fresno or Serrano chile, halved lengthwise
- 2tablespoons kosher salt
- 1pound coarse bulgur (about 2⅔ cups)
- ¼cup red wine vinegar
- 1teaspoon minced shallot
- ½teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1cup pomegranate seeds
- 1cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped
- 4tablespoons finely diced red onion
- ½cup fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped
- 16fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- ½cup crème fraîche
- 1garlic clove, finely minced
- 1Serrano chile, seeded and finely minced
- 4tablespoons fresh dill, finely snipped
- 1teaspoon pomegranate molasses
For the Bulgur
For the Vinaigrette
For Assembly
Preparation
- Step 1
Prepare the bulgur: In a large, dry heavy pan over high heat, use tongs to char the onion, celery, carrot, bay leaves and chile until completely burnt, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add 8 cups of water and the salt, and cook until reduced by half, about 25 minutes.
- Step 2
Put the bulgur in a large bowl. Strain and pour the hot charred vegetable stock over the bulgur. Stir the bulgur and cover with plastic wrap until all the liquid is absorbed, about 30 minutes. (Drain the bulgur if there is any water left in the bowl.) This will yield about 8 cups bulgur. (You can use extra bulgur for a side dish, toss it into salads, like tabbouleh, or add it to soups.)
- Step 3
Meanwhile, make the vinaigrette: Mix the vinegar and shallot in a small bowl and set aside for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper, then slowly drizzle in the olive oil while whisking until the dressing is emulsified.
- Step 4
Assemble the salad: In a large bowl, mix 6 cups of the bulgur, the pomegranate seeds, walnuts, red onion, mint and basil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the vinaigrette and toss until just incorporated, but don’t overmix. Taste and adjust the salt as needed.
- Step 5
In a small bowl, stir together the crème fraîche, garlic, chile and dill and spread the mixture on the bottom of a serving platter. Pile the salad on top and finish with a drizzle of pomegranate molasses and a pinch more pepper.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
WOW, this is DELICIOUS. We used 1/2 chicken stock for the bulgur stock for more flavor and it's the best tasting bulgur we've ever had. Normally, we can't abide fruit in our salads, but the pomegranate seeds worked in here. Instead of drizzling the pomegranate molasses on top (way too viscous/intense-tasting to drizzle), we just added a dollop to the creme fraiche spread. SO, so good. Next time, might double the dressing to add to some greens and then put the bulgur salad on top.
I didn't have bulgur so I replaced with quinoa. Delicious! I love this recipe.
Made with quinoa as well because I couldnt find bulgur. Also cooked the quinoa using veggie broth instead of making my own because I didnt have time and it came out deliciously! Might add some feta next time too. A really great grain salad.
Awesome Recipes.
This was great, but the smokiness from the broth didn’t come through for me. I would just make the bulgur with high quality broth and follow the recipe as is.
Outstanding. Substituted farro. Lots of flavor.
if i want to substitute the pomegranate molasses what do i use? thanks.
What's a good substitute for the lactose intolerant please?
Vegan Cream Cheese has a good texture and a slight twang - so I use it as a substitute for creme fraiche. (may need to thin it down a little bit - depends on the brand) Might also try vegan sour cream - if the brand you use has the right texture.
I didn't have bulgur so I replaced with quinoa. Delicious! I love this recipe.
This is a tasty recipe and serves as a great base for adding more toppings. We added cubed chicken and would add some more veggies next time. The process of charring the vegetables was a little tedious and I was worried about setting off the smoke alarm, so the carrot and celery didn’t really get charred, but it still tasted delicious!
ha i did set off the smoke alarm
Made this substituting Quinoa(gluten free) for bulgur. It was fantastic. I used all 8 cups of Quinoa and adjusted the amounts of the other ingredients slightly. It made a huge amount; which was perfect for a large break the fast contingent. Next time, I would toast the Quinoa in a PC and then add the liquid to the PC, cook on high pressure one minute and let pressure release naturally(about 10 minutes or less). Did not increase the amount of dressing. Asked by many to make the recipe again.
Forgot to mention that since it was made at the last minute, did not have enough time or ingredients to make proper crème fraiche. Instead, I soured whole cream with lemon juice rather than buttermilk, etc. It still tasted divine!! People were scraping up the bottom to make sure they got all the crème mixture. Will definitely make again. Next time, I'll try half the recipe.
Do you toss out the charred vegetables or reserve & add back in to the bulgur?
WOW, this is DELICIOUS. We used 1/2 chicken stock for the bulgur stock for more flavor and it's the best tasting bulgur we've ever had. Normally, we can't abide fruit in our salads, but the pomegranate seeds worked in here. Instead of drizzling the pomegranate molasses on top (way too viscous/intense-tasting to drizzle), we just added a dollop to the creme fraiche spread. SO, so good. Next time, might double the dressing to add to some greens and then put the bulgur salad on top.
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