Because of the nice weather I made this delicious salad with bulgur. Bulgur is usually made from durum wheat, which is first steamed, then dried and finally crushed or coarsely grounded. It has a slight nutty flavor and is therefore great as a base for a summer salad or side dish for lunch at the bbq .

But first the question of this week, as promised, how do I use vinegar in the kitchen? Do you also think those bottles are so ugly? Here's an idea to solve that problem.

Question of the week: vinegar : what can you do with it?

Cleaning Vinegar is an awfully convenient detergent. It is an acid, so it removes lime scale very well, but it also is great against bacteria. In the kitchen I use it daily to clean the sink. Please note : you can not use cleaning vinegar in recipes!

In the kitchen

Of course, the domain of our cooks, I use white vinegar for:

• Get rid of lime scale and clean the faucet and sink. We live in an area with very calcic water, so this is really necessary. If you really got big lime scale stains, moisten a cotton ball with vinegar, put it on the stain and let it retract an hour . Please note: not all materials can withstand vinegar. So test it first on a less visible spot;
• Descale the coffee machine and kettle. I fill the coffee maker with vinegar and let it run. I pour it away. Then I fill the coffee maker with water and let it run through again. Discard the water The latter I repeat three times. To clean the kettle I put in the vinegar and let it stand for an hour. Then I rinse three times with water before use;
• If you got nasty spill residue on your stove, put the burners (after you have tested that they can cope with vinegar) overnight in vinegar, the next morning the dirt gets off very easy;
• Odors in the kitchen are removed by putting down a bowl with some vinegar;
• If you got a stain with strawberry or another strong coloring in your table cloth, wipe the stain several times with vinegar. You will see that the stain is decreasing;
• Do you suffer from ants in your kitchen, mop the floor than with vinegar solution. The scent trail that the ants follow to get to their reward will be gone;
• Rinse 1 x per month your gutter with 2 tablespoons of baking soda and rinse it off with vinegar. It will bubble and cleans your dirty drain. It helps to prevent any blockage ;
• And when washing your kitchen cloths you can use a dash of vinegar instead of fabric softener. It ensures that your cloths stay soft, but won't get a detergent smell. (And there won't be a vinegar smell either!)

Recipe : Bulgursalade

Ingredients (4 people)

• 200 grams bulgur;
• 1 shallot, sliced​;
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar;
• 4 tomatoes, cut into eighths;
• 70 grams feta cheese;
• 1 bunch parsley, finely chopped;
• 2 tablespoons olive oil;
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice;
• salt and pepper at taste.

Preparation:

Prepare the bulgur according to package directions. Allow to cool to room temperature.

In the meantime marinate the shallots in red wine vinegar for about 10-15 minutes. Let the onion then drain in a sieve. Crumble the feta.

Mix the bulgur with the tomato wedges, feta, parsley, marinated onion and salt and pepper at taste.

Make a dressing of lemon juice and olive oil and mix that through the salad. Cool for 30 minutes in the refrigerator to enhance the flavors.