Mostly bulghur wheat turns up in salads in our house, occasionally replaced by quinoa if our coeliac friends turn up. Ofcourse, it’s perfectly possible to cook a main dish and serve it hot. It’s fine as a dish on it’s own but could also be an accompaniment.

Ingredients

• 1 aubergine, baked & cut into cubes
• 1 small onion diced
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 125 g bulghur wheat
• 250ml vegetable stock
• 4 ripe tomatoes
• 3 tbsp pine nuts toasted
• 15-20 leaves mint (a smallish bunch) chopped
• one sour dried lime or lemon juice to taste

Aubergine can be tricky. Everyone has their own way and I’m loathe to contradict a method that works. I use two approaches: griddle with no oil whatsoever for a charred but soft result and bake/microwave for a soft to melting non-charred taste.

Cook the aubergine until soft and melting, or charred and soft – either works well in this dish.

Fry the onion until soft. Add the garlic and cooked aubergine. Add the bulghur wheat and vegetable stock. If you have a sour dried lime, add it now.

Cook for around 15 minutes until the wheat is fluffy and almost dry. Remove from the heat and discard the lime.

Add the chopped tomatoes and pine nuts. Add the mint and combine well. Taste and add lemon if wanted.

Serve hot. We decided to serve it with beans cooked in tomato (passata) with a couple of tablespoons of caponata to jazz them up.