This salad, with a Middle Eastern flavour to it, is a lovely accompaniment to a meat dish, or a light snack for summer evenings. It's important to get the timings right in this dish, so it is served just warm, not hot or freezing cold.

Ingredients (Serves 2 as a main dish, 4 as a starter/accompaniment)

• 200g Bulghur wheat
• One punnet cherry tomatoes, or ideally baby plum tomatoes
• Half a cucumber
• 4 rashers unsmoked back bacon (optional)
• One shallot
• One large clove garlic
• 2tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 3tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Large handful each of mint and coriander leaves.

What To Do

1. Put a saucepan of water on to boil, and meantime prepare the dressing. Finely chop the shallot and garlic, and mix them with the balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Set aside until required.
2. Add the bulghur wheat to the pan and leave to simmer for 10 minutes. While it is cooking, halve the tomatoes; slice the cucumber and cut each slice into four quarters; and finely chop the mint and coriander. Add the tomatoes, cucumber and herbs to a large salad bowl.
3. When the bulghur wheat is cooked, drain it and set aside to let it cool. If you are using the bacon, fry it until crispy
4. Slice the bacon into strips and add them, along with the bulghur wheat and dressing. Mix thoroughly and serve immediately.

Variations

This is a pretty versatile recipe. You could add some diced sausage, or spicy sausage instead of the bacon. Add feta or mozzarella cheese for different flavours or perhaps some finely diced green pepper.

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