Side Salad

Tabouli is not what most people think of when they hear "side salad" but really, they should.

It's a great salad to go with grilled meat, as part of a tapas-style meal, or for a quick lunch all on its own.

(It also makes for a quick blog post when you've already done 5 hours of school and 6 hours of work)

Tabouli

What you need

• 1/2 c bulgar wheat (aka "cracked wheat")
• 1/2 c water
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp lemon (or lime) juice
• 1 c parsley
• 1 clove garlic
• 1-2 tbsp minced onion (I like red for the colour)
• other stuff...
  • mint
  • dill
  • oregano
  • tomato
  • sundried tomato
  • red or green pepper
  • cucumber
  • pine nuts or walnuts

What you gotta do:

Put the bulgar wheat into a heatproof bowl and add a bit of salt and pepper. Nuke the 1/2 c water until it's just boiling. If you have a tiny student-sized microwave it should take about 2 minjutes.

Pour the water over the bulgar and cover the bowl. If your bowl doesn't have a lid, a plate works fine. Leave this for about 10 minutes or so, while you chop some stuff.

So, really, the only things tabouli desperately needs (in my opinion anyway) is parsley and onion. If that's all you have, that's just fine. But a lot of the time it comes with a bunch of other things in it.

I happened to have some garlic (always have garlic), sundried tomatos, and some pine nuts so that's what I used.

After 10 minutes or so, your bulgar will be nice and fluffy and the kernels will have busted open. Fluff it up with a fork, and leave the lid off so it can cool a bit. I like my tabouli to be at about room temp, and by the time I've done everything, it's pretty much there. Transferring it to a cool bowl helps too.

If you're using nuts of any sort in your salad, they're much better if you've toasted them a bit. Heat a dry pan over medium heat for a couple minutes, then add the nuts. They only need about 3-5 minutes in the pan, but make sure you roll them around every minute or two so they don't burn.

Dump all your chopped stuff (parsley, onion, and whatever else you decided you wanted) into the bowl with the bulgar, and toss it all together. Herbs like mint and dill really work well in this salad, but they need to be fresh. If you feel like adding a dried herb, I suggest oregano.

Pour in the olive oil.

And lemon juice. Yup, I totally measured both. Didn't eyeball anything. Totally did.

Have a taste and add more lemon juice, olive oil, salt, or whatever it needs. If it needs anything.

Sprinkle the nuts on top.

I had this for dinner with some pickles, and then for lunch the next day. It'd a lot more filling than your typical iceburg lettuce side salad, and a lot more flavourful. Seriously, this and a bit of grilled chicken breast (man, what I wouldn't give for an apartment with a balcony so I could grill again) makes a perfect spring meal.

What kind of side salad do you usually make?

Not Cross Buns

I love hot cross buns, but I still haven't figured out how to keep yeast alive.

I am pretty good at making biscuits though. So, I'm sticking with my strength and messing with a traditional recipe.

If you're not familiar with Hot Cross Buns, they're a sweetened, spiced, fruited bread, usually served in the spring. The utilitarian version of the story is that they are made with the last of the dried fruit stores; winter is over, spring is making new fresh food, and yet you still have food in the pantry! Yay! We didn't starve to death over the winter!

Of course, like many other ancient traditions, they were appropriated by the newcomers, and added to that mythology.

They were always an Eoster breakfast thing at when I was a kid, and this time of year makes me crave them. And until the bakery starts making them, I'm going to have to come up with something of my own. 

Not Cross Buns

What you need:

• Biscuit dough
• 1/4 c dried cherries
• 1/4 c dried apricots
• 2 tbsp ginger sugar**
• any other dried fruit, candied peel, or spice you like

** I have ginger flavoured sugar leftover from making candied ginger, which would also work really well in these, but regular sugar will do fine, just add 1/4 tsp dried ginger with it.

What you gotta do:

Chop the apricots and cherries (and ginger, and orange peel, and whatever you want).

Roll out the biscuit dough into a rectangle, just like you would if you were making savoury cheese biscuits.

Put 1/4 of the fruits and sugar in a row in the middle of the rectangle.

Fold the part of the rectangle closest to you up and over the fruit, and put another 1/4 on top, then fold over the other half.

Roll this out and do it all over again.

Roll into your final rectangle and cut into 8.

If you want to have them look a little more like their inspiration, you can cut an X into the top of them. Or you can sprinkle some more sugar over top, or both, or neither. Whatever you have the patience for.

Bake them at 400 for about 20 minutes.

They'll be lovely and golden and glistening with the last of the winter's dried fruit.

I thought these needed a bit more spice to them, so I mixed some cinnamon into the butter. Cinnamon butter!

These taste like the end of winter and go perfectly with a lovely cuppa tea. Or coffee. 

What signals the end of winter to you?