This roasted vegetable bulgur bowl with lamb meatballs is a complete spring dinner dish that comes together easily. The lamb meatballs are studded with sun-dried tomatoes and feta, complementing the base of roasted vegetables, lemony bulgur wheat and collard greens.
While I love being adventurous with food, sometimes I just crave comfort food. It’s amazing that comfort food to me is now a big bowl of food that I know is good for my soul and my belly.
This dish fits the bill exactly: flavorful grains that will stick to your ribs mixed with ribbons of leafy greens, flavorful meatballs jazzed up with feta and sun-dried tomatoes — all balanced with a boatload of roasted veggies! Ready to dig in?
For more seasonal meal ideas and grocery shopping inspiration, check out my March Seasonal Produce List on Uproot Kitchen.
Roasted Vegetable Bulgur Bowl with Lamb Meatballs
Serves 8
Roasted Vegetables
1 small head of cauliflower (about 5 cups florets)
1 small head of broccoli (about 3 cups florets)
1 tablespoon olive oil
¼ teaspoon sea salt
Bulgur Wheat
1 ½ cups dry bulgur wheat
3 ½ cups chicken stock (or water)
1 bunch collard greens
1 lemon
Lamb Meatballs
1 pound extra lean ground lamb (or turkey)
2 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese
1 tablespoon finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes, drained
1 large egg
¼ cup Italian breadcrumbs
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Prep vegetables: Chop the cauliflower and broccoli into florets. Toss them in olive oil and sea salt and roast them in the oven for 30 minutes on a baking sheet, flipping once halfway through.
Cook bulgur: Rinse and drain the bulgur wheat in a fine mesh strainer. In a pot on the stove, combine the bulgur and chicken stock and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and cover the pot. Cook for 15 minutes and then turn off the heat and allow it to continue to absorb liquid (try to avoid lifting the lid, as steam will escape).
Make meatballs: Combine the ground lamb, feta, finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes, egg and breadcrumbs just until combined. Shape them into meatballs (mine were about 3 tablespoons each of the mixture) and place them on a lined baking sheet. Bake them for 15 minutes, until no longer pink in the middle.
While everything is cooking, remove the stems from the collard greens and thinly slice the collard greens into ribbons (as pictured above). Juice a lemon and stir the collard greens and lemon juice into the cooked bulgur wheat. If there is still liquid at the bottom of the pot, give it a good stir and cover the pot once more while you wait for everything to finish cooking.
Plate each bowl with a generous scoop of the bulgur wheat mixture, and then top each bowl with the roasted vegetables and lamb meatballs.
This recipe originally appeared on the blog Uproot Kitchen, written by Marisa Westbrook. Westbrook is a public health professional, recipe developer and food photographer. Visit her website Uproot Kitchen for simple and healthy recipes made with whole ingredients, kitchen DIY ideas, and urban gardening posts, and connect with her on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
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