Cold Soak Bulgur Salad with Herbs and Lemon
Bulgur softens in cold water while you walk. Lemon and dried herbs do the rest at camp.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 4.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 138
- protein
- 13 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 5 min
- water
- 300 ml cold
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Lunch
- Dinner
- Cold soak
- No cook
- Backpacking
- Thru-hike
- Bikepacking
- Day hike
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- Eat in the bag
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Fine bulgur wheat | 3/4 cup | fine grind only; coarse bulgur will not soften cold |
|---|---|---|
| Sun-dried tomatoes | 1/4 cup | chopped small, stands in for cherry tomatoes |
| Dried minced onion | 1 tbsp | |
| Dried parsley | 1 tbsp | |
| Dried mint | 1 tsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1/2 tsp | |
| Sea salt and ground black pepper | 1/2 tsp total | |
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp | dropper bottle |
| Lemon juice powder or a citric acid pinch | 1 tbsp | a real lemon works for day one |
Method
- Two to three hours before you want to eat, pour 300 ml of cold water into the jar with the dry mix. Seal it.
- Shake, then let it ride in your pack. Shake again whenever you remember.
- Check it at the two-hour mark. The grain should be chewy, not crunchy. Add a splash of water if it drank everything.
- Pour in the oil and stir. Eat out of the jar.
The original is a fresh Mediterranean salad: raw tomato, cucumber, chopped parsley and mint, feta. None of that survives a pack. What does survive is the mechanic underneath it, which is that fine bulgur is parboiled before it is ever sold, so it rehydrates in cold water without a stove. That makes it one of the few grains that actually works as a cold soak.
The swaps are all about moisture. Sun-dried tomatoes replace fresh ones and give back some of the acid and sweetness. Dried herbs and onion do the aromatic work at a fraction of the weight. Lemon powder replaces the juice, which matters more than it sounds: without the acid the whole thing reads as wet cracked wheat. The oil goes in last because fat coats the grain and stalls the soak if you add it up front.
Packing
Everything dry goes in one screw-top jar or freezer bag at home. Oil rides separately in a leakproof bottle and goes in at the end, since fat slows the water down.
Variations
- A foil packet of tuna or a handful of shelf-stable feta crumbles turns it into a real dinner.
- Swap half the bulgur for instant couscous if you want it soft in an hour instead of three.
- Sumac or za'atar in the dry mix covers for the missing fresh herbs.
https://blog.9jakitchen.com/bulgur-wheat-salad-fresh-healthy-recipe