Ingredients

• 1 cup bulgur
• 2½ cups water
• 1½ cups asparagus cut into 1 inch pieces
• 2 medium carrots julliened
• 1 red or yellow bell pepper cut into strips
• 2½ – 3 cups button mushrooms chopped
• 2 cloves garlic peeled and finely chopped
• 2 – 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 12 oz extra firm tofu drained and cubed
• ½ teaspoon chopped fresh basil
• 1 – 2 tablespoons feta cheese crumbled
• salt and black pepper to taste

Method

Cooking Bulgur:

•  wash the bulgur thoroughly
• In covered saucepan bring water to boiling high
• stir in bulgur and heat to boiling
• reduce the flame to medium-low and cook for about 15 minutes or all the water is absorbed
• turn off heat and leave the cooked bulgur in the saucepan covered

Cooking tofu:

• drain all the water from tofu by squeezing them slightly between kitchen towels
• set the oven to broil at 400°F
• place the tofu on a baking tray and add cooking spray to the tofu pieces and mix them well
• broil until tofu is golden brown (about 15 minutes)
• set aside
• ** To make the bulgur spicy, sprinkle a little bit chili powder and salt on tofu pieces, add olive oil and mix well.  Broil tofu until golden brown.  This gives a nice spicy flavor to tofu.

Cooking vegetables and making bulgur pilaf:

• in a skillet add about 2 – 3 tablespoon oil and sauté asparagus and carrot for about 5 minutes on medium flame
• add mushrooms and bell pepper and cook for another 4 – 5 minutes
• now add the chopped garlic and cook for another 1 – 2 minutes
• lower the flame and add the broiled tofu and cooked bulgur to cooked vegetables and mix well
• add chopped basil leaves and crumbled feta cheese
• add salt and pepper to taste

Yields: about 3 – 4 servings