How to make minted mixed grain salad

Fresh summery salad ingredients, plump grains, plus plenty of aromatic parsley, mint and lemon combine to make this zesty lunchtime treat both refreshing and surprisingly filling. Perfect in salads, quinoa provides whole-grain, high-fibre goodness to a meal. Quinoa has the highest protein content of all grains and contains all nine essential amino acids, making it a great choice for vegetarians. Here's how to combine these flavours for an amazing mixed grain salad.

Preparation 10 minutes, plus 15 minutes cooling

Cooking 15 minutes

Serves 4

• 75 g (1/3 c) bulgur
• 75 g (1/3 c) quinoa
• 1 small cucumber
• 2 large tomatoes
• 1 large green pepper
• 2 scallions
• 5 g (1 tsp) sugar
• Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 15 g (3 tsp) olive oil
• 5 chopped large mint sprigs
• 50 g (1/4 c) chopped fresh parsley

1 head romaine lettuce

1. Place the bulgur and quinoa in a pot with four cups of boiling water. Return to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the bulgur and quinoa are tender. Drain any water that was not absorbed. Finely dice the cucumber, tomatoes and green pepper, and thinly slice the scallions.

2. Mix the sugar, lemon zest and juice in a large bowl, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Whisk in the oil and add the cucumber, tomatoes, green pepper and scallions. Stir in the cooked bulgur and quinoa, cover and let cool for 15 minutes.

3. Stir the mint and parsley into the salad and season to taste just before serving. Divide the salad among four bowls and serve with a selection of lettuce leaves for wrapping and scooping.

Alternative ingredients

• Use young zucchini instead of cucumber and add a crushed clove of garlic in step 2.
• Try the vegetable and herb mixture with rice as a change from bulgur and quinoa. Cook jasmine rice for an aromatic salad or sushi rice for a delicious, slightly sticky dish.

• To finely dice a cucumber, slice it lengthwise, stack the slices together, cut them into strips and cut across the strips to dice.
• The easiest way to "chop" herbs is to hold the large leaves in a bunch and shred them finely with scissors.

Nutritional information: 267 calories • 13 g fat • 2 g saturated fat • 32 g carbohydrates • 7 g protein • 3 g fibre