Tuesdays Tabboulah and Cheese Pies

Lately, it has been so hot that the idea of having a hot meal makes me cringe. Because of this, today we are having cool dishes for dinner. I will make Tabboulah salad, small cheese pies, and hummus. The salad and hummus will be chilled. the cheese pies will be served at room temperature. I may put down hard-boiled eggs with vinegar and dill too, but we will see how hungry I am by dinnertime.

I have posted the recipes for the Tabboulah and the hummus. I will save the cheese pies for a later day in fear of making this too long a post.  At the end of this post, I have made a few comments of what I would change concerning the recipes.

Making the Tabboulah…
This recipe will make a lot of Tabboulah, which is great! It can be eaten for two days! I start my Tabboulah early in the morning around 10:30 am (early for me considering what time I wake up) . By 3pm, it will be nice and cold. In this recipe, I will be using mint from our garden and cayenne that I dried from last year.

• 2 cups bulgur (To me, it does not matter if it is fine ground or not)
• 2 cups boiling water
• 3 green onions, sliced finely
• 1 fistful of parsley, stems removed, chopped finely
• 2 tablespoons fresh mint, chopped finely (I may use less)
• 2 large tomatoes
• 1 cucumber
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (our oil comes from our neighbors olive trees)
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar (I will add one tablespoon of balsamic too)
• 1 lemons…juice of the lemon that is…
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• salt and pepper
• 1 dried cayenne crumbled

Directions:

1. Place bulgur in a large mixing bowl. Cover with boiling water and let stand 5 to 10 minutes, then fluff grains with a wooden spoon or fork.
   
2. Add onions, parsley, mint, cucumber, and tomatoes and mix well.
   
3. Finally, add the rest of the ingredients one at a time. Mix thoroughly. Chill in the refrigerator and toss once again before serving.

That is it! Pretty easy.
 
A few days ago, I made chickpeas and spinach which turned out very well. A new favorite summer dish for sure! However, I soaked and boiled too many chickpeas. An easy solution to a bounty of chickpeas is to make hummus. There are so many recipes for hummus. I think I have read them all. This is what I have come up with by combining a few of the good ones and following a few tips.
 
Making the Hummus… 
 

• 1 2/3 cup or 2 cups of chickpeas
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 1/4 cup lemon juice (or just squeeze half a lemon)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cloves garlic, halved
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• one crushed cayenne
• 1 pinch paprika
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley

Directions

1. Place the chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, salt, olive oil, crushed cayenne, and garlic in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Transfer mixture to a serving bowl. (I chill before serving)
2. Drizzle olive oil over the mixture. Sprinkle with paprika and parsley.

There you go. Two summer-ish recipes.

Here is our dinner table.

From left to right: Tabboulah, Greek yogurt, Hummus, Olive bread, and Cheese pies.


What I would change:
The Tabboulah was good. We learned through experience that less parsley is better, at least for our taste. Maybe I would add more vinegar, but my husband thought it was fine. I will boil the bulgur in a light chicken stock next time.
The Hummus tasted as hummus should taste. Personally, I would have liked like more lemon .
Oh, the cheese pies! The filling was great, but this is the LAST time I buy store-bought frozen phyllo dough. I will make my own pastry dough for cheese pies and share the recipe.