tabbouleh – Harmonious Belly

Back in July 2009, I volunteered to do some recipe testing for a new cookbook being written by Shauna and Danny Ahern. You probably know them as Gluten Free Girl and the Chef. I was sworn to secrecy at the time, but since their book is out, I can share this.

I only was able to test one recipe, but the one I tested was a total winner: millet tabbouleh.

Now, I don’t need to eat gluten-free, but I have friends who do, and it’s always interesting to work with new recipes. Millet is a delicious alternative to using bulgur wheat for tabbouleh, too. And it’s got a lot going for it: it’s high in manganese, phosphorous and magnesium. I love the taste and texture. And I always prepare this whole grain by soaking it with an acid to reduce the amount of the anti-nutrient phytic acid in it. This makes the grain more digestable and more nutritious.

I made this for an event over the weekend, and everyone loved it. The resident picky eater also loves it. I hope you do, too.

Millet Tabbouleh
Adapted from the recipe by Shauna and Danny Ahern

I’ve halved the original recipe – the original it made two large mixing bowls full of tabbouleh. This half recipe satisfied the needs of a small party, plus there was extra left over.

1 cup millet
vinegar/lemon juice
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
water

2 medium-size tomatoes, or enough to make 1 cup chopped (cherry tomatoes work well)
1/2 cup scallions, small dice
1 long English cucumber, peeled, seeded, and small diced
1 tablespoons Italian parsley, washed well and chopped
1/2 tablespoon mint, diced
1 lemon, zested and juiced
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper

Soak the millet for 8-10 hours in water with an acid (I used a tablespoon of raw apple cider vinegar). Drain and rinse the millet and put it in a large saucepan with 2 1/4 cups of water and 1 tsp of coarse sea salt. Let it come to a boil, stir the millet, then turn down the heat to low. Let it simmer until it has absorbed all the water and has turned fluffy, around 15-20 minutes.

Remove it from the heat, put it in the refrigerator (put a thick towel underneath), and let it cool down in there – this step is very important. .

Add the tomatoes, scallions, cucumbers, and herbs to the millet. Put the smoked paprika in the palm of one hand, and pinch it over the tabbouleh. Combine the lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper into a dressing. Pour over the salad and toss everything together.

You’ll easily get 8 servings out of this, maybe more.

This week was an unusual one – I had a bunch of evening meetups, so there wasn’t much cooking going on at my house. I won’t deny it – I love going out to restaurants – but I also love cooking at home. Next week looks busy too, but I hope I can get more cooking in, despite.

Probably my favorite dish I made this past week was a gluten-free tabbouleh. I tested this recipe for the upcoming cookbook by Shauna and Danny Ahern last July; I loved it then, and it’s just as good now. I did make some adjustments – upped the amount of a few things, primarily, to match my personal tastes. It was great with some greek yoghurt on the side. I can’t give you any more details until the book comes out (maybe in October? I can’t remember exactly), but when it does, I’ll post the recipe.

As for my garden, the little plants in the ground are slowly growing up. The tomatoes, cucumbers, and tomatillos have loved the recent hot, humid days, and I hope for more hot (though not necessarily humid) days to encourage growth. I see tomato plants from nurseries, and experience a little bit of “size envy”, but I have to remember that those plants were probably grown quickly in a hot house and not from seed in paper pots in someone’s backyard.

I’ve added a couple of things to the site itself – at the top of the right sidebar is a line of icons leading you to the Harmonious Belly twitter feed, Facebook page, RSS feed, and a new contact form. The contact form is the best way to get in touch with me with questions, comments, or suggestions. That and formspring.

Finally, I made the decision to eliminate sugar from my diet again. Even the little bit I’ve been eating seems like too much right now, so I’m going to go back to just abstaining. My plan is for doing this for two weeks, and at that point I’ll see where I am. I think it will only be a positive adjustment, especially with respect to my running and general feeling of well-being. Perhaps this will usher in a new era of kombucha brewing!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend, everyone!