Test Kitchen - Garbanzo Bulgur with Zucchini

Now, I know I usually get a little crazy when it comes to what I end up doing with my Test Kitchen ingredients but this time around, I toned it down a bit. I went simple on this one because hey, we all have those days when we just wanted to get something done fast and still feel good at the end of it. Since I was working with fine ground bulgur (basically a quick-cook version of whole wheat), I just wanted to use it as a base grain to whatever dish was put together. Therefore, this recipe uses few ingredients and little time from start to plate. Enjoy!

Step 1: Ingredients (yields 4-6 servings)

• 2 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth if wanting to go vegetarian)
• 1 cup fine ground bulgur
• 2 cups cooked garbanzo beans
• 1 tbsp garlic salt, divided
• 1 tsp pepper
• sunflower oil (or oil of choice)
• 4 medium zucchini, thinly sliced lengthwise
• parsley, optional

Step 2: Prepping the ingredients
Start a medium saucepan with chicken broth on medium heat. Slice ends off zucchini to toss and then thinly slice lengthwise. Start a medium skillet with a little bit of oil. In saucepan, add in bulgur once the broth barely starts to boil. Stir often to prevent burning. If you want to add some extra fresh parsley, chop up a few leaves to add to the bulgur.

Step 3: Finishing
In skillet, add zucchini, half the garlic salt, and pepper. Stir gently until zucchini are just about translucent. Take off heat. In saucepan with bulgur, add remaining salt and the garbanzo beans. Stir together & remove from heat. Serve with zucchini. I used the slices as a wall to my plate. Quick and easy!


This week's Test Kitchen ingredient: harissa extra virgin olive oil
It seems like even though the chili sauce itself isn't a newly discovered food item, harissa has become the hot newest thing to use in cooking. I know that a recipe I had been wanting to try a long time ago required harissa in it so I didn't bother as I didn't want to go searching for it. It seems to be more ubiquitous now though. Curious about what it is? It's "a Tunisian hot chili sauce whose main ingredients are piri piri (type of chili pepper), serrano peppers and other hot chili peppers and spices and herbs such as garlic paste, coriander, red chili powder, caraway as well as some vegetable or olive oil." [Wikipedia]

As for the olive oil itself, I bought a few bottles from 41 Olive, a wondrous place in Irvine that has so many different olive oils and balsamic vinegars. I'm so eager to keep going back to them for more of their stuff! Let me know what your thoughts are on what I should do with it. Comment on its picture on Facebook please!


Photography by Minerva Thai.