New Recipe: Tropical Tabbouleh

I found this recipe in the Denver post on July 4th and decided it sounded good and I should make it a recipe I use on my blog.  I did not intend this to be my first recipe however as my mother and I took a cooking class last Friday that I thought would be a better first blog entry.  The problem was, I didn't cook it, I cored a tomato and diced a pear.  Not exactly the height of culinary adventure I had been thinking of.  So I will blog those recipes when I actually make them myself.  So here it is my first new recipe adventure.

First and foremost, what is a tabbouleh?  Wikipedia defines it as a Levantine salad traditionally made of bulgur, finely chopped parsley and mint, tomato and spring onion, seasoned with lemon juice and olive oil.

  (A traditional Tabbouleh looks like this, according to Wikipedia)

Tropical Tabbouleh

Start to finish: 15 minutes. (it took me about an hour since that is how long it takes to cook and cool barley, I guess if you have it already made it would take you less time but who really has cooked barley just instantly available?) Servings: 4.

Ingredients
2      cups cooked and cooled pearl barley
1      cup firmly packed chopped fresh cilantro
1/2   cup chopped fresh mint
3      scallions, sliced  (or green onions, why can't everyone call it the same thing, geesh)
3      tablespoons lime juice
2      tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1      cup diced mango
1/4   teaspoon allspice
       Salt and ground black pepper, to taste

Directions
In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients. Toss well, then season with salt and pepper.

Per serving: 200 calories; 70 calories from fat (33 percent of total calories); 8 g fat (1 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 0 mg cholesterol; 33 g carbohydrate; 3 g protein; 5 g fiber; 10 mg sodium.

So there is the recipe, sounds good right?  First step, to buy the necessary ingredients

Barley    $1.68

Cilantro $1.27  (I went with the organic cilantro, kind of a snobby thing to do but part of the reason for this blog is to be good to my body)

Mint  $2.47

Scallions $0.68 organic

Lime Juice $1.07 from concentrate (I know the opposite of organic, but it said 100% natural and every time I buy real limes I wind up with lime colored golf balls in the crisper drawer of my refrigerator)

Olive Oil - I already had that! Yippee!

Mango $0.88

Allspice $2.18

Total = $10.23

Isn't it pretty all gathered together like that?  Just ignore the trash in the background please, I will learn to stage my pictures better in the future.

My first challenge:

The box doesn't say how to make just 2 cups of barley.  So I made it easier on myself and just made 3 cups the way the box said to do it.  That way I could be one of those people who just happens to have cooked and cooled barley in their refrigerator.  Problem solved, cool.

My second challenge
How to best cool the barley?  Freezer! I'm a creative genius!

Fun with fruit:
Have you ever diced a mango?  I think it is now my favorite fruit to dice.  I have seen them diced on TV before and it looked so fun, but I never bought a mango just for the fun of dicing it.  Maybe that is why I chose this recipe, so I would finally have a reason to dice a mango, cool.  First there is this Ginormous pit in the middle of the thing, and even though I am fairly sure it is some kind of relative to a peach this pit does not come out like a peaches, so you have to cut it in the right way.  I wish I had taken better pictures of how I started out, but if you google "how to dice a mango" there is a really good article on cooks.com.  Why am I so excited about dicing a mango you may ask, because you get to turn it into a porcupine, Look!

From this

To This!

FUN!

Finished product

In the bowl,

On the plate!

The Verdict

Good, but too much cilantro and make sure if you make it you chop it finely, that way you aren't eating huge leaves of cilantro. The mango is by far my favorite part of this recipe I wish I had added the whole mango instead of just one cup of it.  After the first serving I added the remaining cup of barley to dilute the cilantro and it was much better.  Of course that makes the nutritional information way off, but since I am not counting calories, or points or what have you who cares, it tastes good.

Would I make it again?

Probably


Read more: Grains add fiber, protein to tabbouleh salads - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/fitness/ci_18399421?source=email#ixzz1Rv80rU4W
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