Mercimek Koftesi

(Recipe from the Vegan Society by way of BBC Food.)

Ingredients
200g/7oz red lentils
200g/7oz bulgar wheat
Olive oil for cooking
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 tbsp tomato paste (I used tomato sauce, because that's what I had)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
small bunch of parsley, finely chopped
6 spring onions, finely chopped (I used leeks, because I still had a lot left over from my last meal.)
Lettuce leaves for garnish

Method
1. Wash the lentils and cook in four times their volume of water for 20 minutes until soft.
2. Near the end of the cooking time add the Bulghur wheat and cook for 2 more minutes.
3. Turn off the heat and allow to stand for 20 minutes
4. Fry the onion in the olive oil, add the tomato paste and remove from the heat.
5. Combine all the ingredients together and allow to cool
6. Shape the mixture into walnut sized balls and serve on a bed of lettuce.

Notes
I fried these, because...frankly, I could. It didn't really add anything to them, but it didn't take anything away, either.

Served over a salad of lettuce and tomato with Texas ranch dressing (I bought it on a whim one day at the store--it's sort of a cross between thousand island and ranch, and actually far more tasty than that description would lead you to believe.) and with hilariously unleavened Italian herb bread on the side that I made from a box.

Verdict
Eh. I'm glad I tested it out and it was certainly edible, but overall I wasn't a huge fan. I'm sure I could tweak the recipe and make it better, but I just didn't like it enough that I feel like it's worth trying to perfect. Oh well. Can't win 'em all.

Now, what to do with almost an entire bag of bulgar wheat...?