Tabouli Two

This recipe is called Tabouli 2 because I already have one tabouli recipe here on the blog (basic tabouli).

This version still isn't traditional Tabouli, which is very heavy on parsley. But it's great for summers in Arkansas, when it's too hot to eat anything except cold food, and when your garden is putting out a ton of tomatoes and cukes.

Tabouli

ingredient:

• About a cup of cracked wheat and/or one box of Tabouli mix
• One half of a cucumber (English is best)
• One stalk celery
• Two bunches of green onions
• One big juicy ripe tomato or several plum tomatoes
• One can black beans (12 oz)
• One lime
• About a quarter cup of rice vinegar
• A little fresh mint, a little parsley
• Half a cup of excellent olive oil

(1) Put the wheat or the Tabouli mix into a glass bowl or four-cup measuring cup. Pour in a cup of boiling water. Stir. Cover and leave to sit for half an hour.

(2) Cut up all the vegetables into small bits. (About half the size of a standard dice.) Dump in a big glass bowl as you cut them up. Squeeze out the lime, and add its juice and the rice vinegar. Mix well.

(3) Open the can of beans and drain. Maybe rinse them as well. Mix the beans in with the vegetables. Chop the mint and parsley very fine and stir those in as well.

(4) Dump in the grain, and mix again.

(5) Add the olive oil. Mix very well.

(6) Cover the glass bowl with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator. (I put the tabouli into a giant Bell canning jar at this point, because that fits well into my fridge. If you do this, you can just put on the lid, instead of the plastic wrap.

(7) Let chill for at least an hour. Then NOM.

Keeps for several days, though mine is always eaten by the second day.