Greek Salad w/bulgur wheat

For Dressing:
1/2 C. olive oil
1/2 C. red wine vinegar (or 1/4c red wine + 1/4 c balsamic)
1tsp basil
1tsp oregano
1tsp salt
1tsp pepper
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp dijon mustard
2-3 minced garlic cloves

For salad:
1 C. dry bulgur wheat (you could also use couscous, orzo, brown rice)
about 1/4 cup chopped red onion (to your taste, could also use green spring onion)
2-4 medium sized tomatoes (chopped)
1 medium or small hothouse cucumber, chopped
8-10 Kalamata olives (halved)
1 pkg Athenos feta cheese crumbles, (used reduced fat if desired)

Cook bulgur wheat according to directions, place in fridge to cool off while you do the rest of the prep. Bulgur wheat is healthier than rice and very cheap ($1.69/lb) in bulk at green earth grocery in edwardsville.

shake together all of the dressing ingredients (good seasons makes a nice cruet in the salad dressing aisle)

Add some of the dressing to the package of feta cheese to let the cheese soak up the flavors.

Mix the COOLED bulgur wheat with chopped veggies. Add feta cheese + olives last. Add rest of the dressing last--to taste. You need to add all of the dressing because it has a very strong flavor and can mask the flavors of the other ingredients.
To reduce sodium omit or reduce the olives and salt in the dressing

Serving Size: makes about 8 1-cup servings

Number of Servings: 8

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user BITTY4.