Tabbouleh

Tabbouleh is a great light summer salad.  I used whole wheat "pearl (Israeli) couscous" instead of bulgur, because I love the texture of the tiny sphere-shaped couscous, and the whole wheat really makes the dish heartier.

The photo is before I added the chopped greens (parsley and mint) and couscous.  I absolutely loved that the chopped vegetables (cucumber and tomatoes) filled an entire large mixing bowl.  

Link to Tabbouleh Recipe

Recipe- Tabbouleh

Servings- 8

Prep Time- 45 minutes

1 cup bulgur (or prepared couscous)

3 tomatoes seeded and chopped

2 cucumbers peeled and chopped

3 green onions, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/3 cup chopped fresh mint leaves

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 cup lemon juice (about 3 large lemons)

2/3 cup olive oil

1. Place cracked wheat in a bowl and cover with 2 cups boiling water.  Soak for 30 minutes. Drain and squeeze out excess water.  (Or, prepare couscous according to directions)

2. In a mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients.  Toss and refrigerate for 4 hours. Toss before serving.

Mashed Potatoes

A 10 pound bag of potatoes were on sale at my neighborhood grocery store for 99 cents! I couldn't pass it up. So, you will probably see a number of potatoe recipes in the coming days!

I was too lazy to peel the potatoes before I cooked them, so I just scrubbed them under cold water, poked them with forks in several places, and placed them on the oven--directly on the rack. I baked them at 425 until they were tender (about 55 minutes).

I then removed the potatoes from the oven, and their skin came off very easily. I put the skinless potato chunks in my potato ricer (see pic). You obviously do NOT need a potato ricer to make mashed potatoes. But, I DID need a potato ricer when I attempted to make gnocci (Italian potato dumplings) earlier this summer.

I have made mashed potatoes many times before, but having a potao ricer made it SO easy. You just put the potatoes in the ricer, and then squeeze the handles. The potatoes come out as tiny, rice-like pellets. I then added a few tablespoons of butter. I had some half and half left over from something else, so I poured the half and half in, a few tablespoons at a time, stirring, until the mashed potatoes reached the consistency I wanted. Then, salt and pepper to taste. TOO easy. Take about 90 seconds after you have "riced" the potatoes.

Enjoy!

Hummus

Great as a snack, starter, dip, or even a side--hummus is nutritious and easy and fast to make. It's one of those great dishes (like pesto), were you can just throw everything into a food processor--so it takes literally seconds to make. I love hummus as a dip for fresh veggies--especially carrots or celery. I also like to put hummus on pita bread with feta cheese.

Hummus is popular throughout the Mediterannean. My roommate prefers chunky hummus, so the hummus that I made is a chunky, peanut butter hummus. Hummus is traditionally made with tahini (seaseme seed paste), but since I had peanut butter in my pantry, I opted to go with the peanut butter hummus. I'll include a traditional hummus recipe below as well. Again, like pesto, this is one of those recipes that don't really require a recipe--just add however much of the ingredients to your liking.

Prep time: 5 minutes

Difficulty: Super Easy

Recipe- Hummus (with peanut butter)

1 15 or 16 oz. can of garbanzon beans (a.k.a. chick peas), drained (with liquid reserved)

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced

2-3 tablespoons of smooth peanut butter

1 tablespoon chopped, fresh parsley

1 lemon, zested and juiced OR 2 lemons juiced

1/3 cup Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground corriander

1/4 teaspoon paprika

salt and pepper to taste

Chop the garlic, beans, and half of the reserved liquid in a food processr until desired consistency. Add the peanut butter, parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, cumin, corriander, and paprika. Process until it forms a paste. Salt and pepper to taste. May need as much as a teaspoon or more of salt. Add enough salt until you can taste the flavors--stop adding salt JUST BEFORE the hummus tastes "salty." Drizzle with olive oil and garnish with parsley.

Recipe- Traditional Hummus

1 15 oz. can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1 garlic clove, minced

6 tablespoons Extra-Virgin Olive Oil, divided

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp. sugar

1/4 tsp. ground cumin

Puree beans, garlic, lemon juice and 3 tablespoons olive oil in bleder or food processor until creamy. Add remaining oil, sugar, and cumin. Puree until very smooth (about 2 minutes). Season with salt and pepper.