It's always a challenge to come up with interesting lunch box ideas week after week. Sandwiches just don't cut it and soup never feels right during the summer. We've been on a mission to try out new and exciting salads over the last few months and this recipe is a new favourite. We've only recently discovered bulgar wheat in the Hannah friendly kitchen (who knows why it's taken us quite so long!) but we are now big fans. This recipe pairs it with some of our other favourite foods; butternut squash, feta and a basil vinaigrette. We like to make up salads that will last most of the week, so this is quite a sizeable amount of salad, enough for 6-8 lunches depending on how hungry you are!
Let's start with the butternut squash. Peel, de-seed and cube one large butternut squash and place in a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil, a little salt, and throw in 5 or 6 cloves of garlic, unpeeled. Roast in at 200C for 40 minutes or so, until the butternut squash is cooked but not too crispy then leave to cool.
Now to put the salad together, we typically make it up day-by-day so nothing gets too soggy! Firstly, cook the bulgar wheat. We use 30g of bulgar wheat per serving, place in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Place a lid over it and leave for 5 minutes. While the bulgar wheat is cooking, make up your vinaigrette. Place a handful of basil leaves into a pestle and mortar, crush together with a clove of garlic then add in a pinch of salt, 3tbsp olive oil and 1tbsp white wine vinegar. Drain the bulgar wheat and stir in the vinaigrette. Add in the roasted butternut squash, crumbled feta, a handful of dried cranberries and a couple of chopped spring onions. By lunch time, the flavours are fabulous. Enjoy at your desk or in the park, it's really delicious!