Tabouli, Tabbouleh, Tabbouleh

Tabouli, Tabbouleh, Tabbouleh 

No matter how you spell it - it's one of my favorite summer salads.

Summer is the ideal time to make this salad with fresh ingredients, the Tomato, Cucumber, Onion, herbs, lemon juice and Olive Oil, mixed together just taste like summer freshness on your tongue! There are 'Boxed' versions of this salad but like many 'Boxed' versions of things it bears little resemblance to the Fresh version. It's my favorite side dish to BBQ or grilled chicken but goes with just about anything. This Middle Eastern salad is often referred to as 'Parsley Salad' - my version has the amount of parsley cut back and I've found many people prefer it to the heavy parsley version. Feel free to experiment to develop your own version.

2 Cups Wheat Bulgur (Cracked Wheat)
1 to 2 Cups Flat Leaf/Italian Parsley leaves - finely chopped Traditional versions add as much as 3 cups.
1/4 Cup Mint leaves finely chopped
3 Scallions or 1 large shallot minced
2 med - lg tomatoes cut into 1/2" cubes
1 lg Cucumber pealed, seeded, cut into 1/2" chunks
1/4 to 1/2 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
2 tsp salt
4 TBSP your best Extra Virgin Olive Oil (lesser oil can be substituted)
3-4 TBSP Lemon Juice

Place the 2 cups of Wheat Bulgur in a bowl and add 2 cups hot water and let stand 30 min. (this can be done a day or two ahead of time)

Add Soaked Bulgur and remaining ingredients to a bowl and mix well.

For Taste Sake

One of my favorite additions to this traditional dish is a can of garbanzo beans, drained & rinsed - many brands of canned Garbanzo Beans have salt added so you may want to taste your salad first before adding the additional salt. Grabanzo beans add texture and makes it a little more of a heavier substantial salad and will make it stretch a little further.

Another popular addition to Tabbouleh is chopped lettuce - lettuce adds another level of texture, makes your salad a bit lighter and fluffier and again can make it stretch a but further among your guests without having to make two batches.

Feta cheese is another good addition - remember to take into account that most feta cheese has salt in it.

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You can substitute cherry tomatoes for whole ones, keep in mind cherry tomatoes are typically less acidic and therefore sweeter than most varieties of larger tomatoes. I prefer the whole tomatoes, cubed, but the cherry tomatoes run a close second.

Chili Verde Recipe

Chili Verde is one of my all time favorite Mexican dishes!
DELICIOUS tender chunks of pork simmered in a wonderful green sauce.
I've order this dish in more restaurants than I can remember an I've enjoyed them all - Here's how you can enjoy it and serve it for others to enjoy.

This is a very simple dish, your results depend on your dedication to maximizing the flavor.

Pork cut into small cubes any amount will work - calculate 1/3 lb to 1/2 lb fresh pork per person.
1 Onion Per 2 lbs of Pork sliced as you desire (minced or sliced is typical)
Ground Cumin about 1Tbsp per pound add as much as you wish
Green Enchilada Sauce or Roasted Tomatillo Salsa (15oz can per 2lbs of pork)

Start with an inexpensive cut of pork - the better the cut - typically the more tender and leaner the meat. An inexpensive cut can be improved by trimming away as much fat and gristle as possible. Tenderness can be achieved by cooking the meat longer. It's pretty hard to 'Over Cook' pork - the longer you cook it the more tender it becomes.

The simplest method is the 'Unattended Crockpot' - let the crockpot do all the work - Mix Pork, onion, cumin and Enchilada sauce together - put the crock on high or low and come back in a few hours - this is a great way to put a meal in the crockpot in the morning and come home from work with the house smelling WONDERFUL and a ready-to-eat meal waiting for you when you walk in the door!

The 2nd More Flavorful method is the "Attended Crockpot' - The pork, and onion have quite a bit of moisture in them - which is great if you're leaving the crockpot unattended but that moisture does dilute the Enchilada sauce. So to increase the flavor, we need to let the moisture evaporate throughout the cooking process - this evaporation, concentrates the flavor of the dish. So if you're going to be home enough to supervise the crockpot - You can let it cook enough with the top on to thoroughly cook the pork. Then take the lid off and let it cook uncovered for several hours, stirring the dish and scraping down the sides of the crockpot so that the sauce doesn't burn on the side of the crockpot.

The 3rd and most flavorful method is to precook the onion and pork - this requires more work but the flavor is worth it! Start with a small amount of oil, Chicken or Beef  broth, or water in a skillet add the cubed pork and onion, eventually the moisture will start coming out of the pork and onion - you'll have almost a soup - just keep the heat on it until the moisture evaporates. You'll be tempted to pour the liquid off (which you can do) - but there's flavor in that liquid! Keep cooking untill the bottom of the pan is DRY. Once it's dry - add the Pork, Onion, Cumin mixture to the Enchilada Sauce in the crockpot and cook it in the crockpot until tender.

This dish is typically served, scooped on a plate with Spanish rice, Refried beans, and tortillas on the side, but it makes a wonderful taco and burrito filling.

There's various Green Enchilada Sauce and Roasted Tomatillo Salsas on the market "Las Palmas Green Chile Enchilada Sauce" is probably the most common but experiment with different brands.

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