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"OTCC: Two Summery Salads"
Posted by Seana on 04-16-10 at 03:37 AM
Warmer weather is here! And with the warmer weather come picnics and barbecues and salad! And there's so much more to salad than lettuce and veggies (though I do love a nice mixed green salad). So let’s start with my personal favourite. This is what I make for me for picnics or when we take a lunch to the park or the beach.

Tabbouleh
Tabbouleh (or tabouleh or tabouli) is a Middle Eastern salad that includes bulgur, which is, according to Wikipedia, a "cereal food made from several different wheat species, but most often from durum wheat." It is not cracked wheat, which is what I have always thought. There. I learned something. I have always bought bulgur at the bulk store. I seem to remember having bought a very fine (as opposed to coarse) type in a package in the rice/beans aisle at the grocery store, near the barley and oats. How fine or coarse the grain is won't affect the taste of this salad. I prefer it somewhat coarser.

Ingredients
2/3 cup bulgur
1+1/3 cup cold water
1/2 tsp salt

3-6 green onions, cut up (prettily, on a diagonal, if you like)
1/2 an English cucumber, finely diced
1 cup parsley, chopped (either curly or flat-leaf is fine. I used flat-leaf this time. I grow the curly-leaf kind in my herb garden just to make this.)
tomato, diced (optional)
feta cheese (optional)

juice of 1 large lemon
approx 1/4 cup olive oil (which I forgot to put in the photo. And actually, I use a canola/olive oil blend.)
1 tsp dried mint or 10 leaves (?) fresh mint, thinly sliced


Ingredients, with DD's finger. Rotten kid.

How-To
1. Put the bulgur, cold water and salt in a medium-sized pot and bring the whole thing to a boil.


Bulgur, up close and personal

2. Turn the heat down to 2 or 3 and cover. Simmer for 15 minutes. The bulgur should absorb all the water. It’s a good idea to put the salt in because I find it a little bland without. Also, for a variation, I once added freshly ground black pepper to the water and the peppery taste got right into the bulgur. It was very good.

3. OK, so remove the pot from heat and let cool completely.


Bulgur, cooked.

4. While you’re waiting for that to cool, cut, dice and chop the green onions, cucumbers and parsley, respectively. If you’re using tomato, dice that too.


Slicey, dicey, choppy

5. For the dressing, juice the lemon into a measuring cup. You should have a little over a 1/4 cup. Add olive oil until you have 1/2 a cup of liquid. Add the mint and stir. I used dried. Truthfully, I don’t know how much fresh mint to use. I tried it last year with mint from my garden, but I don’t remember how much. Tip! I cut mint the same way as basil: stack all the leaves together and roll them up lengthwise into a little cigar. Then, slice thinly from the end.

6. When the bulgur is completely cooled, transfer it to a large bowl (I use the Tupperware one in the photos because it's just the right size - 12 cups or 3L.) Add the cucumbers, parsley and green onions and mix well. You could add the tomatoes now too, if you like.

7. Give the dressing a little stir and then pour it over the salad. Mix the whole thing.


Mixing

8. I like to sprinkle crumbled feta on top of a portion, not into the bowl. Your choice, though. Serve either as a side dish or a light meal.

Makes maybe 4-6 side dish servings or lunch for me for 3 days. I usually make half this amount.


Tabbouleh with Greek chicken and tzatziki (See below)

*****

So, that was something a bit different. How about something more familiar?

Cool Slaw
Yeah, everyone else in the world eats cole slaw, but not us. This was originally from Top Secret Recipes - KFC Cole Slaw. I don't make it much differently, but a bit. I made this for the BBQ at my dad's just this Sunday past. It was enough for 10 people with leftovers. And I only ever make half the amount that the original recipe calls for. Which is incidentally why the amounts look a bit weird. This is a family favourite here.

Ingredients
1/2 head of cabbage, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, finely grated
1 Tbsp minced red onion

5 Tbsp white sugar
1/4 cup sour milk*
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2+1/4 tsp white vinegar
3+3/4 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
pinch white pepper

*to make sour milk, put 1/2 tsp vinegar or lemon juice (over and above the what's called for in the recipe) in a measuring cup, then add enough milk to make 1/4 cup. It should separate and look like it's gone bad. I forgot to take a picture. Sorry.


Ingredients


Equipment, front to back, left to right: peeler, butcher knife, grater, food processor, something to shake the dressing in. That's a Tupperware manual food processor, by the way.

How-To
1. Chop the cabbage finely using a knife or food processor. The original recipe calls for finely chopped, and that's how my family prefers it, but there's no reason not to just chop it coarsely or slice it thinly or whatever you like.


Cabbage in itty bitty bits

2. Peel the carrots, then grate them. Mince the onion with the knife or food processor. (I use the knife - it's a small amount.)


Carrots and red onions in itty bitty bits

3. Put cabbage, carrots and onion in a bowl (again, I use the handy 12-cup bowl with a lid) and mix.

4. Combine the dressing ingredients in a container with a lid and shake.

5. Add dressing to chopped veggies and mix.


Slaw


As served at Dad's, with Dad and his GF's potatoes au gratin and Hawaiian Ham, and Middle Sister's veggie mix. Youngest Sister made pineapple upside down cake, which was good, but not pictured here.

*****

I hope you all enjoy these.

This was a bit of fun. I was taking pictures at Dad's and everyone was laughing and trying to help me make up a pretty plate. DH and the kids have been laughing when I cook about whether I want a picture of that too.

I'll post the recipe for the chicken that I made to go with the tabbouleh below.


My kids' school has a big to-do today, but I'll make every effort to be around to answer questions.

Table of contents
Messages in this discussion
"Greek Lemon Chicken with Tzatziki"
Posted by Seana on 04-16-10 at 03:55 AM
Ingredients

4 chicken breasts (I only made 2, but forgot to cut down the marinade recipe, so it was a bit much.)

juice of 1 lemon
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried rosemary
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley (which I forgot – it was fine without)
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper


Ingredients

1. Put chicken in a Ziploc baggie and pour the marinade over it. Marinate in the fridge for at least 1 hour. Longer is better.


Bake chicken to an internal temperature of 185, says my nifty thermometer.

2. After an hour, grill or bake the chicken until done. Serve with tzatziki.

Tzatziki
2 cups thick Greek yogurt (I used Balkan style. It was thin, but really tasty. I also cut the recipe in half and still had way too much.)
4-10 cloves garlic, minced (How bad do you want to smell? I used 4 and it was a bit much for me.)
1/2 cup diced cucumber
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp lemon juice

1. Prepare all ingredients in advance. (I didn’t.)


The original recipe called for grated cucumber. You can see why I just diced it small instead.

2. Combine oil and lemon juice in a medium mixing bowl. Fold in yogurt slowly. (I did it backwards – yogurt in bowl, fold in lemon juice/oil.)

3. Stir in garlic and cucumber.


Mixing tzatziki. Waaaay too much garlic.

The finished chicken can be seen in the salad post, above.


I'm going to bed now.

"RE: OTCC: Two Summery Salads"
Posted by kingfish on 04-16-10 at 07:56 AM
I love taboli (I prefer my spelling which is, of course, wrong).

It's been a while, but I remember preferring it without mint, although the mint is traditional. And not heating the wheat in water, just letting it soak in the fridge overnight. You can also toss in various other vegetables (tomato, broc, etc) that lend themselves to marinating in the lemony mix. It is addicting, but fortunately lasts a while (a week or so) in the fridge if you make too much to eat in one sitting. With the marinade, it actually get better with time, up to a point.

And a cool slaw recipe and a Tziki (greek spelling defeats me) recipe!

"RE: OTCC: Two Summery Salads"
Posted by Seana on 04-16-10 at 11:06 PM
I never heard of soaking the wheat overnight. I may try that one time when I know what I'm doing that far in advance. Thanks!



"RE: OTCC: Two Summery Salads"
Posted by kingfish on 04-17-10 at 05:32 PM
You might be right. As memory slowly comes back, I believe I boiled water, mixed it with the grain and then out it in the fridge.

I guess it's not important how the water gets soaked up. A quick way is just as good I'm sure.

"OH YUMMMMM!"
Posted by qwertypie on 04-16-10 at 09:16 AM
This looks totally delish!
"RE: OH YUMMMMM!"
Posted by qwertypie on 04-17-10 at 12:11 PM
I usually throw a little dill in my tzatziki, but the youngest DD won't eat it. This may be a good compromise.
"RE: OH YUMMMMM!"
Posted by Starshine on 04-17-10 at 04:14 PM
I'm with your DD, I like aniseed, however dill always tastes very medicinal to me

"RE: OH YUMMMMM!"
Posted by Seana on 04-17-10 at 06:47 PM
I think I might try either of those. Dill or aniseed, which I have never worked with.
"RE: OTCC: Two Summery Salads"
Posted by Tummy on 04-16-10 at 01:00 PM
LAST EDITED ON 04-16-10 AT 01:01 PM (EST)

I hate tabouli but my mother loves it so I'll make it and take it to her.

On the other hand I love cool slaw. I could eat buckets of it. Of course I usually don't make it, I just run by KFC and buy a couple of containers. It'll be nice to have a taste-a-like on hand if needed!

Thank chicken looks really, really good.

etc by to buy

"RE: OTCC: Two Summery Salads"
Posted by Seana on 04-16-10 at 11:11 PM
Well, darn. At least your mom gets some.

A couple years ago, I decided to sample all the salads at the grocery store. I really liked the tabbouleh and a couple other odd things.

The slaw is a compromise since DH doesn't like it, except from KFC.

The chicken makes the house smell nice.


Wheel of tribe

"RE: OTCC: Two Summery Salads"
Posted by Tummy on 04-17-10 at 10:44 AM
Everything in tabbouleh says I should like it but when you put them altogether there's a flavor there that my tastebuds just doesn't like. Same way with yellow curry, even though I do like a curried soup everyonceinawhile.

I'm going to try the chicken on the grill next weekend with the sauce. Rob likes tabbouleh and I'll give the left-overs to the mother. And keep all the slaw for me. I think some buttermilk biscuits will go well with it!

Now I'm hungry.

When we were still on the truck I'd go to the grocery store and love it when I'd find a really well stock salad bar. We found a few that had an olive bar and a couple that had an "around the world" bar. I loved finding stuffed grape leaves at the salad bars.

"RE: OTCC: Two Summery Salads"
Posted by qwertypie on 04-17-10 at 12:08 PM
I LOVE dolmades! YUM!
"RE: OTCC: Two Summery Salads"
Posted by Starshine on 04-17-10 at 04:13 PM
One of my faves, we had some over here that were stuffed with pork that were the yummiest things ever, sadly not enough of us thought that so we only have the rice stuffed ones now.

"RE: OTCC: Two Summery Salads"
Posted by CTgirl on 04-20-10 at 03:04 PM
It depends what region of Greece you're from whether you stuff dolmades with meat or not. I prefer mine meatless which is the way you get store-bought ones most often in the U.S. and most of DH's relatives make them meatless too. I wasn't happy when I was in Athens and wanted meatless ones and could only get them with meat!
"RE: OTCC: Two Summery Salads"
Posted by kingfish on 04-17-10 at 12:53 PM
With me it was the mint I had to remove.


Nepharious!

"Oh Brother"
Posted by foonermints on 04-19-10 at 11:57 PM
You're really pushing it.
foonermint: cruising with derelicts
"RE: OTCC: Two Summery Salads"
Posted by Starshine on 04-18-10 at 03:13 PM
LAST EDITED ON 04-18-10 AT 03:15 PM (EST)

Mmmm Lovely

I used couscous instead of Bulgar wheat, and stirred everything in together, and then ate it with some plain georged filleted chicken thighs. Very very nice.

I planted cabbages today, and so will try the cool slaw in a few weeks time!

Sunning with the Cap'n

Just another Sleeperbloke

I was going to cook les crepes de Frodis today, however the batteries on my scale have died.

"Making it tonight"
Posted by qwertypie on 04-19-10 at 08:17 PM
I started this recipe this afternoon, but, yet again, Sammo-Whammo-Blammo thwarted my efforts (really, I should learn that I cannot do this unless he is asleep, or someone else is shackled to him )


So I had to make a trip to the grocery store to get some more lemon juice as he poured the bottle down the sink (I had my back turned to him 30 seconds max) and started to eat the fresh lemon peel included. But I decided to pick up some pita bread and dolmades while I was there, so all is not lost

"Reviews!"
Posted by qwertypie on 04-19-10 at 11:11 PM
Very, very, very tasty!

We liked it all, but the runaway hit was the tabouleh salad. The only thing I would change (and this was totally my fault because I tried to cheat) was to use full fat feta cheese instead of light.

The chicken I would grill next time, we were too lazy to fire up the BBQ.

And the tzaziki was good with the pitas even though DD still would not try it. *SIGH*

"LEFT OVERS!"
Posted by qwertypie on 04-21-10 at 00:28 AM
Chicken, tabouleh and a little tzaziki sauce wrapped in a pita. HEAVENLY!
"RE: LEFT OVERS!"
Posted by Seana on 04-26-10 at 02:18 AM
That sounds really good! I used the leftover tzatziki for a good week afterwards. It's good on so much. Even as a dip for my plain ripple chips that I love so much.
"De-lish!"
Posted by CTgirl on 04-20-10 at 02:58 PM
I made the tabbouleh, tzatiki and grilled chicken last night. It was wonderful and really didn't take much time at all (which I liked because I always start dinner too late!) I've always avoided tabbouleh since I am allergic to garlic (never having known what is in it). It was yummy. I used dried parsley because I forgot to get some and fresh mint (left over from qwerty's salad). All four of DH's grandparents were Greek immigrants so I've had tzatiki sauce over the years and have tried to make it myself. This one came out the best maybe because I used Greek yogurt (Fage 2%) and haven't tried to make it since Greek yogurt became available around here. And I had to use garlic powder instead of fresh garlic. I steamed some string beans to go with it. This meal got four thumbs up from us!

One cooking hint, most recipes for tatziki sauce say to scoop out the cucumber seeds before grating or dicing. If the cucumber is really watery you can let it sit and drain for 15 minutes before adding it to the yogurt.

Thanks Seana! I'll be making this again.



Cooked up by Foonermints

"RE: De-lish!"
Posted by Seana on 04-26-10 at 02:20 AM
I'm glad you liked it. I never put garlic in the tabbouleh, though I thought I was supposed to have it.

Thanks for the tip about scooping out the seeds!

"April 30th note-plan ahead!"
Posted by weltek on 04-22-10 at 10:21 AM
Just an FYI,
I'll be posting a citrus-jerk recipe on April 30th. You can use pork or chicken, just about any cut. So if you find a good sale on pork or chicken, go ahead and throw it in the freezer.

Also, Seana's cole slaw would be a good side if you are wanting to make that. Or did you have yet to make Qwerty's sweet potato fries (http://community.realitytvworld.com/boards/DCForumID6/35216.shtml) or Arkie's calabacitas (http://community.realitytvworld.com/boards/DCForumID6/35338.shtml)? Those will also be great sides for the jerk.

I look forward to making Seana's chicken on the grill this weekend, even in the rainy weather.


-A Tribetastic Creation

"RE: April 30th note-plan ahead!"
Posted by qwertypie on 04-23-10 at 01:11 AM
OOOOH -- thanks for the head's up I'll save the coleslaw for this.
"RE: April 30th note-plan ahead!"
Posted by Seana on 04-26-10 at 02:32 AM
Oh cool! I've been thinking about finding a jerk recipe, since I like to make things from scratch. DH actually likes jerk chicken, so he might have this with me.
"RE: OTCC: Two Summery Salads"
Posted by Sagebrush Dan on 04-26-10 at 04:23 PM
Will you marry me?

"RE: OTCC: Two Summery Salads"
Posted by qwertypie on 05-03-10 at 08:12 PM
Yummy Cool-Slaw!

Some changes I made (by choice and otherwise)

-I doubled the cabbage and carrots (I like my coleslaw on the dry side.
-the cabbage was shredded coarsely. I was too lazy to fine the proper cutting blade.
- I used low fat miracle whip
- and since the girls made a bunch of lemonade and used up the last of the lemon juice without mentionning it, lime juice instead of lemon.

It turned out really good, sweeter than the coleslaw I usually make, very close to KFC's recipe. I wonder if I had used lemon juice if it would be exact.
I will tell everyone I meant the substitution in order to complement the Jerk Chicken. Now, to be patient and wait for another 20 minutes or so, until the chicken is done.

"Cool slaw"
Posted by frodis on 05-04-10 at 11:34 AM
I made the cool slaw to go along with Weltek's jerk recipe.

First off, I cheated. I bought a bag of the pre-shredded cole slaw blend that had green and red cabbage and carrots already shredded up together. It was a fairly rough chop and I like cole slaw that way, so I just dumped the bag into the bowl to begin.

I did mince my own red onions, though.

I also used lime juice instead of lemon, ala qwertypie. It was mostly just laziness.

I did make a mistake but it turned out great and I would do it again. I had been planning to make qwerty's sweet potato fries with the honey lime dipping sauce but ran out of time. While I was throwing together the cole slaw, I had a brain hiccup and instead of putting in 1/4 cup of mayonnaise I put in a 1/4 cup of sour cream (which was intended for the dipping sauce.)

I didn't even realize it until just now.

I intentionally reduced the sugar to 3 tablespoons.

Mr. Fro raved about the cole slaw and I love it too. It's really refreshing and I'd actually make the sour cream substitution in the future. I've never made cole slaw before and this recipe is a keeper.

Thanks, Seana! Tabbouleh is on the docket for later this week!

"RE: OTCC: Two Summery Salads"
Posted by Tummy on 05-09-10 at 09:05 PM
Seana - your tabbouleh was a big hit with Weltek's jerk. I even liked it - the feta made a big difference with me. And I went easy on the parsley. Thanks for these recipes. And my mother thanks you too.

I'll post pics tomorrow.

And the slaw was good too.

"Pics"
Posted by Tummy on 05-10-10 at 12:18 PM
I'm such a convert on the Tabbouleh Seana! The feta made all the difference, which I would have never thought of trying, and going lightly on the parsley.


By the time I was ready to make the slaw I had too many things going and forgot pics until plating. But it was delish also.

Question: would people be horrified if I put sunflower seeds in my tabbouleh? For some reason that just sounds good.

"RE: Pics"
Posted by Seana on 05-10-10 at 05:54 PM
Hooray! I'm so glad it worked out for you.

I don't see why you couldn't put in sunflower seeds. It's your salad, after all.


Wheel of tribe

"RE: Pics"
Posted by Snidget on 05-10-10 at 06:01 PM
It is on this list of things you can fancy it up with

http://urbanvegan.net/2010/03/gussied-up-tabbouleh.html

"RE: Pics"
Posted by Tummy on 05-11-10 at 09:17 AM
Interesting. The black olives also sound good in it too.
"RE: OTCC: Two Summery Salads"
Posted by Starshine on 05-13-10 at 03:26 PM
Silly idea!

So I was making Welteks jerk chicken and using my little blender and thought "why don't I blend the ingredients?"

Flavour was OK, but the texture was very strange.

Sunning with the Cap'n

Just another Sleeperbloke

"RE: OTCC: Two Summery Salads"
Posted by Maroonclown on 05-26-10 at 12:29 PM
I had a bit of a famloy BBQ this weekend and decided to make these two salads for it.

For the cole slaw I used buttermilk instead of the soured milk and I used choyote squash in place of cabbage.

It really did taste like KFC, but with a kick. I had pre-made it the day before and was nervous that it wouldn't hold up in the fridge but, other than a little draining of liquid, it was perfectly fine. It was a big hit.

A bigger hit was the tabouli.

Once I found the bulgar in a health food store I had to do some quick math - okay, not so quick. Because I was making for 14 people the measurments got kinda hairy. But bulgar seemed to be a very forgiving thing.

I don't like tabouli. Never have, never will so when I say that once I made it I didn't like it, that indicated to me that I made it correctly. And because I don't like tabouli, in order not for it to go to waste, I figured the BBQ was the best place to serve it.

Everyone else loved it. It was hoovered. So I can say it was a huge success

Weltek's jerk marinate made it's way onto ribs. They were a huge hit as well.

Thanks Cap'n