Glenna Rose
2007-08-05 17:53:44 UTC
This is the recipe of the month to go out in our September food co-op
newsletter. It is delicious and such a wonderful summer dish. I only
make it when the garden is productive because store-bought veggies just
don't do it justice. Use whatever is in your garden that might be
compatible; no one ever "sticks to the recipe." It is better the next day
after when all the flavors have had a chance to blend (and with the
sweetest tomatoes as well!).
Enjoy.
- - RECIPE OF THE MONTH, BULGUR TABOULI - - -
Bulgur wheat is one of the original convenience foods: a fast-cooking
grain prepared by partially boiling (parboiling) durum wheat, which is
then dried and debranned. Valued for its high protein content, durum or ,
"hard" wheat is a prized crop of the inland northwest. Here it is used as
the main ingredient in a variation on a traditional Lebanese salad, whose
only non-local ingredients are lemon and olive oil. Take advantage of our
late summer garlic, mint, parsley and tomatoes!
Ingredients
Bulgur wheat (approximately one cup per serving)
Olive oil
Lemon juice (fresh or bottled)
Minced garlic (chopped very fine)
Minced parsley (chopped very fine)
Minced mint (chopped very fine)
Cubed tomatoes (1/2" pieces or to taste)
Other vegetables such as green onions, or diced cucumbers are optional.
Instructions
1 Measure out bulgur wheat by volume
2 Boil an equal amount of water by volume
3 Remove water from heat and add bulgur, then let sit thirty minutes
4 Mix equal parts olive oil, lemon juice and garlic
5 After thirty minutes, mix these thoroughly into bulgur
6 Let sit and chill overnight to "set" flavors
7 Add fresh herbs and tomatoes to fluffed bulgur thirty minutes before
serving
8 Leftover tabouli, like good stew, is more flavorful after a day or two
Traditional Lebanese tabouli is much more of a "green" and herb-based
dish, but this variant makes for a cooling, late-summer salad or entree
(in sufficient quantity). Taking very little prep time and keeping well
for days, it can easily become a low-hassle, hot-weather favorite.
- - - HERB OF THE MONTH, PARSLEY - - -
Parsley is a common herb, both fresh and dried. Notoriously difficult to
start from seed, planted parsley starts grow quickly, making it a popular
herb in Clark County kitchen gardens. Parsley leaves can be harvested with
scissors as needed for soups, salads and as a garnish. Available in many
varieties, a flat-leafed version is often used in Asian cuisine, with the
familiar curly-leafed "Italian" parsley traditional in the west because it
was easy to distinguish from edible chervil or poisonous conium. As a
garnish, parsley can also double as an after-dinner breath mint. A cousin
to the carrot, parsley is also one of a few common herbs whose seeds are
also used as a spice, with the roots of some varieties eaten in eastern
Europe. Pinching the flowers off of biennial parsley may retard this
biennial's natural life cycle for a year, and entire plants can be cut and
hung indoors from their stems to dry for winter use.
newsletter. It is delicious and such a wonderful summer dish. I only
make it when the garden is productive because store-bought veggies just
don't do it justice. Use whatever is in your garden that might be
compatible; no one ever "sticks to the recipe." It is better the next day
after when all the flavors have had a chance to blend (and with the
sweetest tomatoes as well!).
Enjoy.
- - RECIPE OF THE MONTH, BULGUR TABOULI - - -
Bulgur wheat is one of the original convenience foods: a fast-cooking
grain prepared by partially boiling (parboiling) durum wheat, which is
then dried and debranned. Valued for its high protein content, durum or ,
"hard" wheat is a prized crop of the inland northwest. Here it is used as
the main ingredient in a variation on a traditional Lebanese salad, whose
only non-local ingredients are lemon and olive oil. Take advantage of our
late summer garlic, mint, parsley and tomatoes!
Ingredients
Bulgur wheat (approximately one cup per serving)
Olive oil
Lemon juice (fresh or bottled)
Minced garlic (chopped very fine)
Minced parsley (chopped very fine)
Minced mint (chopped very fine)
Cubed tomatoes (1/2" pieces or to taste)
Other vegetables such as green onions, or diced cucumbers are optional.
Instructions
1 Measure out bulgur wheat by volume
2 Boil an equal amount of water by volume
3 Remove water from heat and add bulgur, then let sit thirty minutes
4 Mix equal parts olive oil, lemon juice and garlic
5 After thirty minutes, mix these thoroughly into bulgur
6 Let sit and chill overnight to "set" flavors
7 Add fresh herbs and tomatoes to fluffed bulgur thirty minutes before
serving
8 Leftover tabouli, like good stew, is more flavorful after a day or two
Traditional Lebanese tabouli is much more of a "green" and herb-based
dish, but this variant makes for a cooling, late-summer salad or entree
(in sufficient quantity). Taking very little prep time and keeping well
for days, it can easily become a low-hassle, hot-weather favorite.
- - - HERB OF THE MONTH, PARSLEY - - -
Parsley is a common herb, both fresh and dried. Notoriously difficult to
start from seed, planted parsley starts grow quickly, making it a popular
herb in Clark County kitchen gardens. Parsley leaves can be harvested with
scissors as needed for soups, salads and as a garnish. Available in many
varieties, a flat-leafed version is often used in Asian cuisine, with the
familiar curly-leafed "Italian" parsley traditional in the west because it
was easy to distinguish from edible chervil or poisonous conium. As a
garnish, parsley can also double as an after-dinner breath mint. A cousin
to the carrot, parsley is also one of a few common herbs whose seeds are
also used as a spice, with the roots of some varieties eaten in eastern
Europe. Pinching the flowers off of biennial parsley may retard this
biennial's natural life cycle for a year, and entire plants can be cut and
hung indoors from their stems to dry for winter use.