Bulgar Pilaf with Tahini Sauce

I love a well-stocked kitchen. I don't like having to go shopping for every meal, I like to 'stock up' on things, as everyone who has lived with me can attest. To make the dukkah the other day, for example, I didn't even have to think - Do I have lots of nuts, seeds and spices? I just knew because we always do. Some things though, I buy in inspired moments in ethnic food shops and sometimes forget what I had thought of making with them - a large jar of mango powder being one such great idea. So I have many pretty jars of spices which mainly regularly get used and refilled, and then a few large jars of dried beans and grains which can risk becoming merely ornamental. So occasionally I get around to making something with these - and today's recipe uses some chunky bulgar I wanted to try before I forgot what it was.

I made this by looking in the fridge and cupboards and also from inspiration from a couple of recipes including one by the same title in 'Vegetarian Dishes From Across The Middle East' - in fact, my main changes were using lentils instead of chickpeas and cooking it all in vegetable stock, not water. I had some 'stock' in the freezer which was technically fresh vegetable juice - I juiced celery, parsley and the carrot tops from our bunch of baby carrots. I checked it out and yes, eating carrot tops is not only possible, but supposed to be very good for liver cleansing being good sources of chlorophyl, vitamin K and potassium - according to The Carrot Museum, whose website even has recipes for how to use them.

Pilaf ingredients
1/2 c brown lentils (or 1 can)
3/4 c large-grain bulgar, rinsed
Aprox 2 c veg stock (or half/half with water, depending on the strength of the stock)
2 med carrots, peeled and diced
1 small red pepper diced (reserve a few pieces for garnish)
1 small green pepper diced (reserve a few pieces for garnish)
1 small red onion, sliced
1/2 t chilli powder
2 T olive oil

(NB, if you are using already soft canned lentils, add these when the bulgar is cooked) Put everything in rice-cooker / saucepan / slowcooker and cook till the bulgar is soft. While it is cooking, mix up this simple but yummy sauce. Serve a scoop of the pilaf with the sauce and some fresh pepper and parsley on top. I also made a simple salad of mixed greens, basil leaves and a chopped tamarillo.

Sauce
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 c water
1/2 c tahini paste

Garnish
reserved diced green and red pepper
2 T chopped parsley