Tabbouleh (and Tomatoes) You!

"One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating."~Luciano Pavarotti and William Wright, Pavarotti, My Own Story

Previously, I posted about how bountiful the recent harvest from tomatoes from our urban garden has been. As a result, Anne has been especially creative in working tomatoes into most of our meals: salads, pasta dishes, sadwiches. To be able to truly appreciate how hard this task can be, maybe you need to look at it fomr the perspective of someone like myslef: fairly inept at making meals which do not consist solely of foods from a box or jar. Additionally, I don't eat meats (chicken, beef, fish), so not only am I a poor chef, but a picky (vegetarian) eater, as well.

When Anne and I go out to eat at our neihgborhood cafe', we'll often order a little number called "Tabbouleh Salad." A filling mix of fresh greens and vegetables, chilled tabbouleh, and tomatoes with feta and a light Greek dressing. This dish has become something of a staple in our "dining-out" diets.

Three evening's ago, with a fresh basket of ripe tomatoes, and a variety of requisite fixins', Anne set out to make a tabbouleh, or "tabouli", salad of her own for us to eat at home. As you can see from the image (which really doesn't do the plate justice) to the left, the final product looked wonderful, even better, than the one we've frequently ordered at the restaurant. But the taste, on the other hand...

was even BETTER! Actually, niether of us even used the salad dressing, as the blend of tabouli and greens was so pleasant that we did not want to disrupt it with the additional spice the dressing might invite. As Pavarotti infers in the quote above, it really is the simple things, like a well (home)made salad, that make life good!

Breathe in, breathe out... YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!