Tabouli-like Greek-ish Salad
A couple years ago, I was working all weekend at my office in midtown. There’s not a lot of food choices in the area unless you’re willing to shell out the bones for something prim and proper. Um, not so much my cup of tea. I find it hard to enjoy a nice meal when there’s a ton of work waiting for me.
At the office.
On a weekend.
One of my co-workers who was working on the same project got a quick bite from one of the only places that was open on a Sunday: Starbucks. He brought back this Tabouli-like salad made with bulger wheat and some fresh veggies dressed with a champagne vinaigrette. When I tasted that bad boy, I was hooked. So I immediately walked out and bought it and thoroughly enjoyed it in front of my computer. The next day I woke up and I wanted it again. It was a pretty simple dish so I decided to make it on my own.
I changed it a bit and added some of my favorite veggies that I thought would go well together and voilà here you have it. Obviously you can make as much or as little as you want, but for what ever reason, I find it really annoying to not be able to use up the entire amounts of certain ingredients that I find even more annoying to pack away like, say, a whole can of black olives. I mean, what am I going to do with half a can? So, of course, if I’m going to use that whole can, I have to up all the ingredients so that it’s not a disproportionate amount of olives to everything else. I mean, I love olives (see recipe below) but this isn’t called an olive salad. Get my drift? This is basically a long-winded way of saying that this recipe makes a lot.
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Serves 6 - I’m actually not sure how much it serves because I usually end up eating the whole thing for lunch and dinner over the course of 2, maybe 3 days. So I figure, that’s about 6 meals. So, um, I guess that serves 6-ish.
- 1 can of whole black olives (I like the small ones. Use this as your size gauge of how big to chop the rest of the veggies)
- 1 English or Hot House Cucumber (the one that comes wrapped in plastic) - chopped to about the same size of the olive
- 2-3 ribs of celery, chopped
- 1 pint grape tomatoes
- 1 yellow bell pepper - sliced length-wise into strips then cut in half. Approximately 2” long and about a 1/4” thick
- 1 red bell pepper - cut same as yellow
- 1 cup baby carrots - I don’t bother chopping them up. This is because I’m lazy.
- Paper-thin slices or finely chopped red onion - what ever your preference is…cut it out all together if you just hate onions. I probably used the equivalent to just under 1/4 cup.
- 1 container pre-crumbled feta cheese
- parsley, finely chopped - about half a cup
- Bulger Wheat - as much as you want…but i usually put about 1/3 cup per serving. I use 1 cup dry to yield about 2 cups cooked.
- Chicken stock - I use it to cook the bulger wheat. About 2 cups
- salt - again, for the bulger wheat, maybe half a teaspoon
For the Dressing - it’s potent. I used maybe 2 teaspoons per serving. That’s not a lot…you just want it to lightly flavor the salad. If you don’t want to go through the trouble, you can use a good Italian or Greek dressing. But just a little - enough to lightly flavor the salad, not drench.
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 3-4 Tbsp pear vinegar or champagne vinegar
- 2 tsp dijon mustard
- 1 tsp sugar or honey
- salt and pepper to taste
- Get the chicken stock boiliing. Once it does, turn off the heat and add the bulger wheat and salt. Stir then cover. It should take about 15 mintues for the bulger to cook.
- Chop/slice all your vegetables and put into a large bowl.
- Add the feta. Mix everything together.
- Put all the dressing ingredients into a small container with lid and shake.
- To serve, put about 1/3 cup of bulger in a bowl and add about 2/3 cup veggies. Drizzle the dressing over. Mix it all up and enjoy!
Again, this makes a ton. If you’re not sure you’re into it, go to Starbucks and look for the salad (it’s been a couple years so I don’t know if they still carry it). But if they do, give it a try.
