My Mom's Tabbouleh

To this day, my mom's tabbouleh is the best I've ever had. So, to honor my wonderful mother, I made it for Mother's Day.

This is another easy, 1-hour dish, packed with whole ingredients, lots of nutrition and great flavors. 

1 cup bulghur  
1 cup boiling water
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 - 2 cups minced parsley
1/2 cup minced mint leaves
1/3 cup minced onion
1 or 2  tomatoes, chopped
 (or 12 grape tomatoes, halved)
Optional additions:
chopped radishes
chopped cucumber

In a small bowl combine bulghur & hot water. Cover with plate. Let sit 20-30 minutes.
Meanwhile make dressing in a small measuring pitcher or bowl:
oil, lemon juice, allspice, garlic, salt, pepper and start chopping parsley and all the rest.

Combine bulghur and remaining ingredients in large bowl. Mix.
Stir dressing and drizzle over bulghur mixture, stirring to coat.
Refrigerate until 1/2 hour before serving.

Serve with Romaine scoops and/or pita bread.

Thanks, Mom!

Hummus Shorcut

Hummus isn't complicated to begin with, but I've discovered a shortcut that serves my purposes so well that I almost never make it from scratch. I don't usually buy it from grocery store deli sections because it can be so expensive, and I'm almost always disappointed with how it's seasoned (too much tahini, not enough lemon, fake garlic). I also don't own a food processor (something I'll remedy, one day), so making it from scratch is actually more expensive and labor-intensive than using my shortcut. That said, I have made some really good, lumpy hummus using a potato masher.

There exists a canned hummus that you can season to your liking. It contains chick peas (a.k.a. garbanzo beans), tahini and salt. You get to add lemon, garlic, olive oil, salt, paprika. As much or as little as you want. There is more than one brand, and it usually costs about $1- $1.50 for a 12 oz. can. It's perfect. The work has been done, and all you have to do is season it.

Where do you find it? I first found it at a great little grocery store in South St. Louis. If you have a Greek or Middle Eastern market near you, you can almost surely find it there. I've also begun seeing it in major grocery stores, in aisles marked "ethnic" or "international."

I like a lot of lemon in my hummus, so I add juice from a whole, good lemon, 2 cloves raw garlic, crushed, and salt and pepper to taste. Then I drizzle olive oil and shake a little paprika over the top. The whole thing costs under $2.    

A Simple Greek Chicken Dinner

I love how easy and quick this meal is -- an hour from start to finish.

Chicken with lemon and oregano, rice pilaf and Greek salad

Ingredients:
1. 1 lb. or so of chicken breast tenders (I usually use already-cut chicken breast tenders, though it's cheaper to buy whole pieces and cut them up, yourself.)
2. juice from 2 lemons
3. generous sprinkling of oregano (dried or chopped fresh)
4. 2-3 cloves garlic
5. 1 small yellow or white onion, diced
6. 1 head romaine lettuce
7. cherry or grape tomatoes (15-20)
8. 1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
9. 1/4 cup kalamata olives
10. 1 cup basmati or brown rice
11. 1/4 - 1/3 cup olive oil, maybe a little more for salad dressing. Use your judgment.
12. 2-3 Tbs. red wine vinegar
13. a squirt or 2 of mustard 

14. Salt and pepper to taste

Make it:

Rice first: Saute about 1/2 of the onion in a little olive oil in saucepan on med-low heat for 10 minutes. Add rice, 2 to 2 and a quarter cups water, a generous sprinkling of salt, bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer, stirring once. Should take about 35 minutes.

Salad second: Rinse lettuce, shake dry, tear and place in salad bowl. Rinse and add tomatoes (I cut them in half so the juice adds to the dressing). Add olives and feta and set aside.

Chicken: Rinse chicken tenders and place in skillet or stove-safe casserole dish. (You'll want a serviceable lid for this.) Add olive oil, juice from 2 lemons, the rest of the diced onion, crushed/diced garlic, oregano and salt and pepper. Mix around to coat the chicken. Set on stove top and turn heat to med-high. It should start bubbling after 2-3 minutes. Turn over chicken, cook another minute or 2, cover and reduce heat to simmer. Cook for 10-12 minutes, checking/turning once or twice. Remove lid and turn up heat to brown the chicken a little (just 2 minutes or so). Cut into chicken to make sure it's done, then turn off heat. At this point the rice should be about done. Turn off heat and keep covered.

Salad dressing: Mix equal parts olive oil and red wine vinegar and a little mustard in a jar, shake and dress salad. Toss and serve.

Serve the chicken over rice, drizzling remaining chicken sauce (juice, really) over both.

Variations

You can use whole pieces of chicken, but your cooking time will increase. Also, if you use bone-in chicken with skin, you can cut back on the olive oil, as the chicken will provide a bit of fat. Let me know how it goes!

A Word or Two about Herbs and Spices

Fresh Herbs
I don't have a green thumb. My mom gave me a beautiful, thriving rosemary plant, and I managed to kill it in a week and a half. And I love rosemary. I hear that basil is easy to grow, but I haven't tried, yet. I've resided in urban spaces for a lot of years, now, and though it isn't a good excuse, it's mine. If you aren't growing your own herbs, then you can buy them at a grocery store or farmer's market. They are lovely and subtle, and they can be the most important ingredient in many a beautiful dish. When you have them, use them! All other times, dried herbs are great.

Dried Herbs and Spices
I stock a few dried herbs and spices, and since most of my cooking tends toward Mediterranean food, you'll see a theme: bay leaves, basil, oregano, parsley, sage, thyme, rosemary, dill, tarragon. I've recently added anise, cinnamon and cloves (needed to make pho). I find that I can achieve a lot with these. You can usually find cheap herbs and spices in the bulk section of your grocery store. With the above, you can season various pasta sauces, rice and bean dishes, soups, and meat, fish and poultry. In other words, just about anything you may want for dinner. Many recipes will call for others, but I wanted to begin by sharing my basic seasoning inventory. 

Basic Red Sauce

Here's a recipe for a basic red sauce, or marinara. I use canned tomatoes here, because good, fresh ones aren't always available.

2 cloves garlic, crushed or diced
1/2 yellow or white onion, diced
1/2 bell pepper, diced
1 carrot, diced
1/4 cup olive (or cooking) oil - It will still be really good, even if you don't have olive oil.
2 tsp dried basil
1+ Tbs oregano
black pepper to taste
1 14-15oz can diced tomatoes (plain)
1 14-15oz can tomato sauce (plain)

Make it:
Saute onion, bell pepper, carrot, in oil, low-medium heat, for 10 minutes.
Turn heat low and add crushed garlic. Saute for 3 minutes.
Add canned tomatoes, oregano, basil, black pepper.
Stir, cover and let simmer for at least a half hour. An hour or two is even better.

Extras
Things I add when I have them are: a splash of red wine, and a shake or two of crushed red pepper for a little extra heat.

You can easily sauce one pound of pasta with this. I toss the cooked pasta with some of the sauce, and then add extra on top to serve. Add a little parmesan, and it's a great bowl of pasta.

For a Meat Sauce
If you want a meat sauce, add ground beef to saute pan and brown before adding garlic. Ground pork, turkey, work fine, too. I stay away from soy-based meat substitutes for this, because the earthy soy flavor seems to step on everything. I generally reserve meat substitutes for burgers. If you want extra texture in your sauce without meat, I'd add olives, artichoke hearts, eggplant, or more bell pepper.

Welcome!

Welcome to my recipe/cooking/food blog. I'm new to this, so I'm just going to start up.

Cooking has long been a love of mine, and though I'm no master chef, I know my way around a kitchen. I'm especially inspired by how the best flavors can come from the simplest ingredients. I grew up in a household that was light on the processed food. This is mainly due to my mom's food knowledge and thoughtfulness and partly due to the fact that both of my parents are really good cooks.  I'm no food saint, though, by any means, and this blog is not a pulpit. 

 My favorite cooking genre is Mediterranean food. My other food passions include: cheap, nutritious, simple and accessible. I'm going to share recipes here that cover those bases and more, and I hope to start up discussions about anything involving food. I think most people have strong opinions about food, reaching far beyond likes and dislikes, and since it's something we can't live without, it's worth discussing (and enjoying!). I welcome your comments and questions.

Here are some basics I keep on-hand: garlic cloves, onions (white or yellow), carrots, celery, olive oil, (cheaper) cooking oil, rice, pasta, beans (legumes), dried herbs and spices, red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar. With these ingredients, alone, you have a great dish. Add one or two other things - tomatoes, bell peppers, greens, meat or fish, and you have an amazing meal.

Next post, a basic red sauce.