The thing I love about bulgur wheat is that as it cooks, it absorbs flavour, better than any other grain I know. Rice is great too, but bulgur wheat is nutty and tastes great eaten hot, at room temperature, or even straight out of the fridge. My passion for sweet potatoes urged me to cook these two together. The result is a colourful, flavourful vegetarian pilaf packed with goodness and taste.

You can improvise and use all kinds of greens, although I think coriander or spinach work best. The chickpeas add a flavourful bite but you can substitute crunchy almonds or pistachios. Serve it with a dollop of minty, thick, Greek yogurt.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 zucchini, coarsely grated
• 1 large sweet potato (2 cups), coarsely grated
• 5 spring onions, sliced
• 2 cups fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped
• 1 cup chickpeas, cooked (drained from a can is fine)
• 2 cups “Mitsides” bulgur wheat (blue pack)
• 2 ripe tomatoes, crushed in a blender
• 1 Tbs tomato paste
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• ¼ tsp ground turmeric
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 ½ cups vegetable broth

To serve:

• Greek Yogurt whipped with some chopped fresh mint.

Method

Pour olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion with a pinch of salt and cook, stirring often for 3-4 minutes until soft and beginning to colour. Add zucchini and sweet potato. Cook a couple of minutes longer until veggies are soft.

Add spring onions, coriander, chickpeas and bulgur wheat. Cook stirring for about a minute until coriander is wilted and bulgur wheat is coated with the pan juices. Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, cumin and turmeric. Season generously with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Pour in vegetable stock and stir. Lower the heat to low. Cover pan and cook for 10 minutes. Take pan off the heat and let it stand covered for 20 minutes longer.

Serve with the minty yogurt.