Thursday, October 11, 2007

Super-Easy Raw Tabbouli

*SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT*

We're looking in to doing a little lame podcast of sorts. If we get it together (big IF), this recipe will be the first one! Keep an eye out!

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I have to say, I love tabbouli. Love love love it. It's so fresh, tangy, and green. I know, it sounds ridiculous to say a salad is "filling," but this one is. Add it to any raw meal, and it's better than three cups of coffee for me any day. I told you in a previous blog post how I've been trying to eat one raw meal a day, and I truly find that a helping of this tabbouli fills any perceived or real nutrient void. Good parsley is available year-round, and it keeps forever in the fridge. I find myself rooting after this salad right before bed, just like I might have investigated a cold slice of hawaiian pizza (ham and pineapple) previously. Really, I can't sufficiently express how much I love tabbouli. For this version:

Raw Tabbouli Salad

1 bunch fresh, obsessively washed curly parsley (don't sub italian flatleaf, just this once)
juice from 1 and 1/2 lemons
1 medium-small sized onion
1/2 Cup raw sunflower seeds, soaked overnight or at least 2 hours, drained
2-3 TB good olive oil
sea salt


Juice the lemon(s). Combine with the salt and olive oil in a large, tightly - sealable container. Set aside for now.









Either mince the onions finely or send them through a food processor. Add the tiny bits of onion to the lemon juice mixture and set it aside. This step is important as it "mellows" the flavor of raw onion without cooking it. You'll find that the flavor blends much more easily after it marinates in lemon juice for a few minutes.





Before you wash your processor, throw the sunflower seeds in there. Alternately, toss them into a plastic bag and send a rolling pin over them a few times. Pulse them until they're about the size of a pencil tip, but DO NOT over process them into a paste. You'll want to keep them in little crunchy bits to add texture. Toss them with the lemon juice.

Pull any browned, wilted, or kinked stems of the parsley and snip them off. Coarsely chop the rest, keeping in mind that tabbouli should be light and fluffy, not pastey or spreadable.








Throw your parsley in with the lemon juice mixture, and after securing the lid, shake the hell out of it. Give it a taste and add more lemon juice or salt as needed.










Serve as a side with anything.

1 comment:

Tricia said...

Now tabouli is not one of my favorite foods. Parsley has always been more attractive to rabbit and guinea pig type pets than to me. I'm more of a basil pesto girl.

More for you, I suppose!