Spring Tabbouleh (or UGO)

UGO's, or as I like to call them Unidentified Grain Objects, are a hazard of my depression-era mentality. In other words, when I have friends who move away, I can't bear to see them discard the contents of their kitchen into the garbage. So I make the last run to pick up the odds and ends of spices, condiments, and pantry contents. In most cases, this ends up creating a culinary challenge by adding spices to my kitchen that I've never heard of, or in other cases, for friends who had severe wheat allergies and intestinal disorders, unlabeled grains that I really have no idea about. Case in point, there is a bag in my refrigerator of small beige granules that about once every two weeks I ask my wife about: "Is this your yeast?" "NO! For the last time, it's some grain that you got from __"   My new policy is: when in doubt about a grain, add to boiling water and keep testing until done. Then try to match the cooked product with online photos to figure out what you have!

The UGO of the week, after being cooked and compared to online photographs, was determined to be bulgur wheat, which honestly I should have recognized since I've used it before. The ones in the fridge are still unknown..  but since I did have cooked bulgur wheat on hand, I remembered one of Heidi's recipes from 101cookbooks.com that is a quintessential spring dish (not to mention fast and tasty!)

Spring Tabbouleh 
1 cup fine bulgur  (I used medium-large, so it actually required boiling rather than soaking)
1 bunch of asparagus, cut into 1/2-inch segments
1 cup peas, fresh or frozen
salt and pepper to taste
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 - 2 lemons, juice only (start with juice of 1 and go from there)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 bunch chives, finely chopped
1 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped (I used raw)
2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped

1. Place bulgur in a bowl and add boiling water (until surface of grains are covered). Let sit for about 15 minutes until tender. (Alternately bring water to a boil in a small pan, stir bulgur in and cook until done. Drain off excess water).
2. Bring a pot of water to a boil (with ~1/2 tsp salt). Cook the asparagus and peas for just about 20-40 seconds, just long enough for the asparagus to become slightly tender/bright green. Drain and run under cold water to stop the cooking. (This is called blanching!)
3. Combine the bulgur, asparagus, peas, eggs, walnuts, and chives in a bowl. (Feel free to use discretion about the amount of walnuts and chives you want).
4. Whisk the garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil together. Pour over the rest of ingredients. Toss and adjust to taste.