My garden’s plethora of parsley is the tail wagging tonight’s dinnerDog-feed. In past years I’ve never grown flat Italian parsley–it’s inexpensive and always well-stocked in grocery stores. Today I’m reprimanding myself for taking this ubiquitous herb for granted. It’s the fastest and easiest herb I’ve ever grown and has a wonderfully intense flavor (is this really parsley?)
The first recipe that comes to mind for using parsley is tabouli. I’m of the tabouli school of thought that prefers tabouli be comprised primarily of parsley, with flecks of bulgur (cracked wheat); not mostly bulgur with flecks of parsley. The bulgur, though traditionally used in a classic tabouli, for me, is negotiable.
Good thing, because I’m out of bulgur and could stock a grocery shelf with quinoa. I have a cucumber and tomato that needs to be used so will include that in my salad. I’m out of lemon so will use red wine vinegar for the acidity; fresh mint is a tabouli “must”, and certainly one of my favorite flavors in this salad.
This salad is great stuffed into a pita pocket with crumbled feta cheese. I’ve also enjoyed pine nuts or toasted pumpkin seeds in past “tabouli” recipes. Just don’t overload the grains and allow lovely parsley to take center stage.
