The base: bulgur. What a nice little grain! It can be used interchangeably with couscous, but it’s got so much more going for it: B vitamins, iron, lots of fiber. Fewer calories and less fat than brown rice, and over four times the folate! What’s not to love? Oh, yeah, and then there’s the fact that cooking it really just entails adding hot water (an equal amount to the dry bulgur being prepared; I used a cup of each) and letting it stand for thirty minutes or so. (I added some vegan bouillon to my hot water.)

The veggies: in this case, chopped zucchini, carrots, fennel, and garlic, all sautéed in a tablespoon of olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. Also present are a handful of sun-dried tomatoes, a can of artichoke hearts, and a can of kidney beans (rinsed). After sautéing the first vegetables, I combined them all and set them to chill in the fridge alongside the soaked bulgur.

The sauce: for this, we can thank Emily, who fired the shot heard ’round the food-blogging world. I may be a Johnny-Come-Lately to the party, but I’m glad I showed up in time to hit the refreshment table! For my ABU, I combined half a cup of chunky almond butter with a full cup of unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze. I didn’t add any sweetener, since I felt that the vanilla in the almond milk was just enough sweetness to match the vegetables in the rest of the dish.

I made all the parts earlier this afternoon, so by the time I came back to them, everything was nice and cold in the refrigerator. I layered them into my bowl, took a bite…and melted. Or reconstituted, perhaps; this is a perfect meal for a warm summer day, or perhaps merely one where you’ve managed to work up a sweat with cleaning in preparation for a parental visit!

Serves 6. Per serving – Fat: 14g; Carbohydrates: 46g; Calories: 364; Protein: 15g.