American Tabbouleh and a Side of Beets

From Shabbat

[edit] A tangy Western Hemisphere spin on the classic Middle Eastern salad, by Bryan Gordon

Tabbouleh involves cooking grains, and therefore should be about the last dish you prepare, so that you can cook the grains in the stock left over from your previous steps. If you've used meat, of course, your tabbouleh won't be strictly vegetarian. I never do, so mine is. I made this after making a hearty African-style sweet potato dish, so the stock tastes yummy and yammy on top of the sweet beetfulness!

Beets

WARNING: Make sure you are careful not to stain anything! Beets are monstrous! (But they make for great hair dye.)

1 qt stock
3 beets, blemish-free, with stalks and greens
1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp red wine vinegar 1/2 tsp ground cardamom 1/2 tsp ground allspice

I'm assuming you already have about a quart of stock. If you don't, prepare some by boiling bouillon into water.

Clean beets thoroughly. Separate half of your stock into a small pot to boil. Remove the greens and stalks, tear into pieces no more than two inches in any direction. Put the greens in the separated stock and cover, keep at a low boil.

Slice beets into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Array across the bottom of a steam pot over the remaining half of the stock. Steam for 35 to 45 minutes, adding water as necessary. Beets should still be crisp (not soggy) but sweet and consistent when done.

Remove beets to separate container, let sit out until cool enough to touch. Remove skins, discard. Drain the greens and stalks over the stock in the steam pot, keep the stock for the tabbouleh.

Add the drained greens and stalks to the beets in the separate container. Dust with cardamom and allspice. Toss with 1/4 cup olive oil and 2 tbsp red wine vinegar. Serve at room temperature.

Serves 10 as a small side dish, 5 as a main vegetable.

American tabbouleh

3/4 c kasha or raw buckwheat groats
3/4 c wild rice
1/2 c quinoa
1 bunch of Italian parsley (at least 2 cups fresh, preferably 4)
1 bunch of mint leaves (1 to 2 cups fresh)
1 large shallot (or 2 small/regular-sized)
4 cloves minced garlic (or 2 tbsp from a jar)
1/2 c extra virgin olive oil
1/4 c lemon juice
1/4 c pure cranberry juice (if you can't find pure cranberry juice, use 2 tbsp cranberry juice blend and 2 tbsp extra lemon juice)
10-12 oz dried cranberries
1 c roasted pumpkin seeds (salted or unsalted, according to taste)

Take reserved stock from beets, add water until total fluid is approximately 6 cups or the correct amount to cook the total amount of grains you have. Add kasha and wild rice and begin boiling rapidly.

Clean parsley and mint thoroughly and chop finely into large salad bowl. Do not throw away stalks; chop them too.

Peel shallots and chop into very small pieces into salad bowl. Toss shallots and herbs with oil and juices.

After kasha and wild rice have cooked for 20 minutes, add quinoa. Continue cooking over medium heat until all grains are cooked. Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, add cranberries to the salad bowl.

DO NOT add grains to the salad bowl until they have cooled down to body temperature or cooler. Adding them while they are too hot will wilt the herbs. After adding grains, add pumpkin seeds and stir thoroughly, put in refrigerator. Serve cold.

Serves 10 as a salad course, 20 as a small side dish.