Tabouleh/Turkish Bulgur Salad (Kisir)

I teach ESL for a living and one of my Turkish students brought in her mother's version of Turkish Bulgur Salad for my class's Halloween party potluck.  I loved it and wanted to recreate it.  I don't remember her instructions as she gave them to me that day but I do remember that her Kisir had parsley AND dill AND mint, resulting in a very aromatic salad.  So I merged what I know of her recipe with some Tabouleh recipes on-line. 

So while my bulgur salad is probably not exactly like my student's, I think it comes close.  I can see myself tweaking it as time goes on, perhaps adding some garlic, pomegranate syrup, green onion and Turkish red pepper paste (Ajvar).  The result would probably be very similar though--a light, refreshing salad that can be eaten alone as a light meal or with some delicious lemon chicken.  One serving of the salad (1/4 of the recipe) yields 15 grams of protein so you'd be getting a good dose of protein even if you skip on meat or chicken.  Sounds like a great meal to me...

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups bulgur wheat
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1 medium cucumber, diced
1 large tomato, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
1 green onion, diced
1 small bunch parsley, minced
1 small bunch dill, minced
1 small bunch mint, minced
1-1 1/2 tsp salt (as you prefer)
1/4 tsp ground cumin
pinch pepper
4 tbsp lemon juice
4 tbsp olive oil

Directions
1. Soak bulgur wheat in hot water until the water is completely absorbed, about 2 hours.
2. Mix all the chopped vegetables and herbs together in a bowl.  Add the bulgur.
3. Combine the remaining ingredients in a small bowl and pour over the vegetable, herb and bulgur mixture.  Mix well and refrigerate, covered, for at least an hour so that all the flavors can meld. 
4. Serve and eat within a couple of days while still fresh.  I like mine with a side of freshly toasted pita wedges and hummus or with a side of lemon chicken.  Mmm mmm good!