Tabouli Salad

Last week, I attempted to make tabouli but could not find bulghur in the usual stores. At Star, I found a tabouli mix by Fantastic Foods. I followed the directions, soaking the mix (seemed to contain bulghur and dried herbs) in boiling water, adding tomatoes, extra parsley, lemon juice, olive oil, cucumber, s/p. Being a tabouli novice, I took a bite after putting the ingredients together and almost threw the whole bowl away! The herb flavors were so strong and I wasn't used to such a strange flavor combination. Han told me he'd eat it, that it wasn't bad enough to throw away.

The next day after work, I came home hungry and decided to try the tabouli again. It actually tasted good, but still a bit strange. My Moosewood Low Fat Cookbook has a recipe for a yogurt-tahini dressing (nonfat yogurt, lemon juice, minced garlic, tahini, cumin, s/p) that I used with the Cannelini Patties (the recipe that made Han love eating vegetarian). I doused the tabouli with this amazing dressing, and I was hooked.

I ended up finding fine bulghur at Down to Earth. Safeway had a red large bulghur, which didn't look like the right type. The fine bulghur looks like large couscous when rehydrated.



I used Moosewood's tabouli salad recipe, and went to work, hoping that my homemade version would be better than the box mix. First I rehydrated the bulghur, (1 cup bulghur, 1.5 c boiling water). Added chopped tomatoes, cucumber, parsley, mint, chickpeas, scallions, chives, s/p and lots of lemon juice (1/3 cup). I normally dislike large amounts of raw parsley, but the recipe called for 1-3 cups of minced parsley! I ended up putting a little less than one cup of parsley and a 1/4 c of minced mint. Apparently large amounts of parsley is what makes the tabouli what it is. Moosewood's recipe doesn't call for olive oil, but I added some McEvoy Olive Oil for flavor.



I knew not to eat it right away and to let it sit overnight. My tabouli turned out a little mushier compared to the box mix, but the taste was more fresh and clean (probably due to using more fresh herbs). I enjoyed the tabouli in a pita with curried cauliflower (also from Moosewood's Low Fat Cookbook).



I've scoured a few vegetarian cookbooks so far and many, many omnivorous cookbooks, and Moosewood's Low Fat Cookbook is really something special. Since Han and I are trying to eat healthy and hopefully shed some pounds, I wanted something that was both tasty and low in calories. They've created truly tasty, low fat vegetarian recipes that doesn't make you think you're eating low fat or vegetarian. The cookbook is written with practical supporting information, also providing useful notes and menu suggestions. Moosewood cookbooks have a great reputation, in general. I love their simplicity, while bringing such flavor and variety to dishes that we can enjoy on an everyday basis.