Tuna, Zucchini and Bulgur Wheat Salad

Quick, easy, fresh and healthy. Those were the keywords I had in mind when conjuring up this recipe.

It’s rather challenging being a food blogger while trying to lose weight (currently down 24 kgs, *self-five*) . Being exposed to amazing products and recipes can make it terribly difficult to stick to the straight and narrow.  I’ve realised that eating healthy 100% of the time is just not realistic.  I’ve learned to accept that once in a while there is going to be a celebratory dinner, product launch, recipe development, restaurant meals etc and one has to cater for such events in the eating plan.

Knowing that, I aim to eat healthy 80% of the time and allow myself to go crazy the remaining 20% without feeling guilty (and therefore wanting to comfort eat my sorrows away).  I think this is a more sustainable plan, and sustainablility for me is key.  There is no point in following a stringent diet for 3 months and then just falling back on your old ways, only to pick up twice the weight as you stuff your face due to being deprived of the foods you love.

I also don’t believe in cutting out certain foods completely, like the folks on no-carb diets etc.  It just doesn’t seem natural to me.  I rather try to make better decisions when it comes to the food I buy regularly and how I use it.

Bulgur wheat is one of my new favourite ingredients.  I use it regularly instead of rice / pasta / bread etc and I must admit I love the stuff.  It tastes great, is easy as pie to prepare and is very versatile. Low GI, high in fibre and nutrients and low in fat, it’s great for those of us wanting to shed a few kilos (don’t we all).  Give it a shot you just might be surprised.

Right, enough babbling, let’s get cooking!

Ingredients (serves 3 to 4)

• 1 cup uncooked Bulgur wheat
• 400gm Zucchini (baby marrow), shaved
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• half a punnet mushrooms, chopped
• 2 tins tuna, drained
• smoked chilli flakes (optional)
• zest and juice of a lemon
• a handful of cherry tomatoes, halved
• 3-4 sprigs of spring onions
• salt and black pepper to taste
• a handful of chopped parsley for garnish

Method

Prepare 1 cup of Bulgur wheat as per my handy dandy guide here

Shave the zucchini’s into strips using a vegetable peeler.  You can of course just slice them up if you want, but I much prefer the look of the strips.

Fry the onion. mushroom, garlic, lemon zest and zucchini strips in a little olive oil. Season generously with salt and a bit of black pepper.

I got this little jar of awesome smoked chilli flakes from my friend Samantha Linsell from drizzleanddip.com some time back ( I think I also saw the idea of shaving the zucchini strips on her blog first, but let’s not give her all the credit :P ).  You can add your favourite kind of chillies, or leave it out completely if you’re not into that kind of thing.  A dash of sweet chillie sauce also works a treat.

As soon as the zucchini starts to soften, stir in the tuna.  We don’t want to overcook things, the zucchini should still have a bit of crunch to it.

Once the tuna has warmed though, pop in the cooked Bulgur wheat and mix through.

Now it’s time to have a taste and adjust seasoning as needed.  You can also add some lemon juice if you’d like a more lemony flavour.  Remove the pan from heat and pop in the tomatoes and spring onions.  Stir through briefly and start plating up.

Garnish with some chopped parsley and a wedge of lemon.

Bon Appetit!