It is said that imitation is the highest form of flattery. And whilst this may be true, in the cooking world, recipes are constantly borrowed, tweaked and evolved. In this recipe for bulgur wheat salad, which we borrowed from Nigella (original in Nigella Summer if interested), we have adapted to ingredients and quantities that work best for us at the Season’s Eatings kitchen, topping with leftover chicken from a roast the previous night.

Although this feels, and rightly is, more of a summer recipe, it’s the kind of recipe that can be eaten on any day where there are still leaves on the trees and a ray of sunshine. So you can get away with making this during Autumn too. There is scarcely any cooking involved in this recipe, rather heating, chopping and mixing. And given that it can be on the table in under a quarter of an hour, we can safely say it is one of the least taxing recipes we’ve shared.

The recipe serves 2 greedy people.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 200g bulgur wheat
• large bunch of fresh coriander
• large bunch of fresh mint
• 4 spring onions
• 1 medium courgette
• juice of 1 lemon
• 4 tbsp Extra Virgin olive oil
• Maldon sea salt
• Freshly ground pepper
• 2 chicken breasts (or skinless thighs) – cooked

Recipe:

1. Boil a full kettle, add the hot water to a pan with the bulgur wheat and cook according to the packet instructions – this will probably be about 10 minutes, conveniently the amount of time needed to do the other preparation.
2. Wash the courgette, quarter lengthways and chop into ½cm pieces. Finely chop the fresh coriander and mint, and finely slice the spring onions. Add all this greenery to a mixing bowl. Once the bulgur wheat is cooked, drain and rinse then add to bowl with the fresh herbs and courgette.
3. Add the juice of one lemon, Extra Virgin olive oil, a large pinch of sea salt and several twists of freshly ground black pepper. Stir together until everything is coated.
4. Serve topped with some cooked chicken pieces (e.g. leftover from a roast the previous night).