Tabbouleh, semi-homemade

I don't usually do pre-packaged food, but Steve bought a box of Near East tabbouleh mix at the store after I casually mentioned needing bulghur wheat (which I picked up myself at Earth Fare) for tabbouleh. When we got back from our 4th of July camping trip, it occurred to us that we had a party invitation that afternoon and nothing to bring. Hmm...what to bring that would be easy to whip up and a nice alternative (at least for those of us who are allergic to eggs) to the usual potato salad and cole slaw side dishes? That's right...semi-homemade tabbouleh.

I basically just followed the package instructions, which were to boil a cup of water and stir that into the bulghur wheat and spice mix (dried parsley, perhaps mint, garlic and onion powder, etc.), cover and let it soak for half an hour, then add chopped tomato, lemon juice and olive oil and chill for an hour. I think I added a little more pepper, but otherwise, the box recipe turned out to be fine.

When we got to the party, I realized I'd left it in the fridge. Darn. Not that they needed it; when we got there around 1:30 on Sunday, the host had prepared at least enough food for half the Red Chinese army and worked on feeding the other half for most of the time we were there. On the bright side, it saved me having to figure out what to do about lunch (or having to even think about eating hot food) on Monday after two hours of watering plants and weeding the butterfly garden in direct sun. Tasty and cool! I guess I'll take tabbouleh any way I can get it in the summer!

By the way, the mileage widget on the right is something I added after I started back to running this past week. It'll be short runs at least through July, but the numbers will eventually be in the double- and triple-digits, which will show off what these recipes have been fueling!