homemade tabouleh

I recently checked out a few cookbooks from the library, one of which is Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything (Leia is making sure it doesn't fall off the table).  As the name suggests, it gives you all the basics for just about any food you can think of, along with multiple recipe variations.

While flipping through it I found a recipe for tabbouleh that looked pretty easy. I tried tabbouleh once a long time ago and liked it. I've been wanting to shake up my diet lately, so I decided to try making it. It's a mixture of bulgar wheat, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, scallions, parsley, mint and tomatoes.

My team members at work gave me a Whole Foods gift card for my birthday, so I decided to buy the ingredients to make the tabbouleh. I even bought a citrus squeezer, which I've used several times already. (In case you don't know what that is, it's a handheld gadget used to squeeze the juice from citrus fruits like lemons and limes. It extracts the juice while leaving the seeds behind.) Can't believe I ever extracted fresh lemon juice without it!

The recipe called for roughly chopped parsley, leaves and small stems only. Have you ever seen a bunch of parsley? It's not easy to get only the small stems, which means either separating the individual stems and stripping them, or chopping off a large portion at the bottom and losing some of the leaves. Same goes for the fresh mint. And have you ever tried chopping parsley and mint?  It's not difficult, but it's messy. Same goes for seeding tomatoes. Again, not difficult, but kind of tedious and messy. The bulgar prep, on the other hand, was simple:  just soak it in some hot water for 30 minutes, drain it and squeeze out the excess water.

Here's the finished product. It tasted pretty good, but for the amount of prep that goes into it and the price of the ingredients, I'd rather just buy it ready-made.

One caveat:  you may want to check your teeth after eating this. Chopped herbs like to stick to, and in between, your teeth.

today's lunch

Today's lunch is a salad topped with onions, Colby jack cheese, grilled chicken breast, and bacon vinaigrette.


I'm not much of a salad person anymore.  Mainly because I've eaten SOOOO much of it during my dieting days and the two weeks leading up to my weight loss surgery.  But, for some reason, a salad topped with smoke skirt steak sounded really good last night.  I stopped at the store on my way home from seeing the personal trainer.  I was so excited to eat it, but a couple bites in I just wanted to throw it away.  Or just eat the toppings and not the lettuce. I ate it anyway, but it didn't really hit the spot.  Every once in awhile I crave salad, and about two bites in I decide I don't want it anymore.  It never tastes as good as it looks.  Also, I'm not very creative when it comes to salads, so they usually look like this. It's not horrible looking, but it also doesn't look very enticing. I wasn't looking forward to lunch, but I ate it anyway.

cranberry, chicken, and wheat berry salad

Awhile back I bought some wheat berries.  I'm always looking for something different to try and these were inexpensive, so I figured I would give them a shot.

What's a wheat berry?  Basically, it's the entire wheat kernel, minus the hull.  They're nutty tasting and chewy in texture, and take anywhere from 30 minutes to 50 minutes to cook.  You can use them in salads, main meals, or in breakfast dishes. 

So, this weekend I decided to finally try making them.  It was easy to do.  All you do is put them in a pot of water and bring it to a boil, then put the lid on and simmer for at least 30 minutes.  After that, you check them every 5 to 10 minutes for doneness.  Then you drain them and use them for whatever recipe you're making.  If you want to learn how to cook them, try this article from The Kitchn:  How to cook wheat berries.

I decided to make a chicken and wheat berry salad.  I found this recipe on the Cooking Light website:  Cherry, Chicken, and Pecan Salad.  Of course, I adapted it because I either didn't want to use an ingredient (arugula:  I'd heard it can be bitter and didn't want to waste my money if I didn't like it) or didn't have the right ingredient (goat cheese:  all I had on-hand was wasabi goat cheese; it actually worked quite well).  I also replaced the cherries with reduced-sugar dried cranberries; cherries aren't in season.  I wanted to substitute strawberries, but they were quite expensive, since they're also out of season.  Instead of fresh thyme, I used 1 tsp of dried thyme.

I was happy with the results, although I feel it would benefit from using either regular dried cranberries or fresh fruit, as it was a bit lacking on sweetness.  It needed a little more salt, too.  But overall I was happy with it and would make it again without hesitation.

Cranberry, Chicken, and Wheat Berry Salad

Serves 4 people

Ingredients

3 TB olive oil, divided
2 TB apple cider vinegar
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp sugar
1 1/2 cups cooked wheat berries (see link above for cooking the wheat berries)
1/4 cup pecan halves and pieces, toasted
6 ounces shredded skinless, boneless chicken breast
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tsp thyme
1/2 cup dried cranberries   

1 ounce baby spinach leaves   

2 ounces goat cheese, crumbled

Directions

1. Combine 2 1/2 tablespoons oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and sugar in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Add wheat berries, nuts, and chicken; toss.  
2. Heat a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion and thyme; cook 3 minutes or until tender. Add to wheat berry mixture; toss. Stir in cranberries and spinach; toss. Sprinkle with cheese.

 

more caprese salad!

I'm on a kick with this stuff lately. I used to be such a tomato hater and now I want this all the time.  A couple weeks ago I cleaned out the entire bin at the grocery store's olive bar.

 

I got this at whole foods today. I didn't have anything to bring for lunch agony I didn't want to buy a sandwich from the cold case again. So I drove down through the congested downtown area so I could snag this stuff. I bought some extra tomatoes to put in it, too.

 

I live the fresh taste and I don't feel lethargic after eating it. Makes me feel healthy.

 

A monster has been created.

 

Note:  No, I didn't eat this whole container.  It's my weekend supply. :)

 

 

chicken salad with cranberries and walnuts

Today's lunch is chicken salad with cranberries and walnuts.  I got it from a deli I used to go to a lot prior to surgery. Since I forgot my lunch today for the first time in more than three months I figured I'd treat myself. And it's also beautiful outside so it was a nice break during the work day.