posted in
Soups, Salads, Sides and Sauces, Vegetarian by
Kathy Maister
Difficulty: 
Taboule (pronounced: tuh-boo-lee) is a Middle Eastern wheat salad. It is eaten cold and is a terrific substitute for a potato or rice dish. It needs to chill for at least 1 hour before serving. It’s actually best to make it the day before serving so that all the flavors blend together.
This box mix requires NO cooking.
In addition to the box mix of taboule, you will need:
The box of taboule not only contains the wheat but also a separate spice packet.
Put the wheat and the contents of the spice packet in a large bowl.
Stir in 1 cup of boiling water.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Before chopping the tomato, remove the seeds by first slicing the tomato in half.
(The stem bit should be on the right or left of the knife when you are cutting it in half. If you cut it in half by slicing through the stem you will not be able to remove the seeds.)
Give each half a gentle squeeze or with your fingers poke out the seeds. (Throw away the seeds!)
Now chop the tomato. (Just set it aside for the moment.)
Stack about 7 or 8 mint leaves on top of each other.
Roll the stack into a log…
…and chop the mint into very fine ribbons.
Instead of or in addition to the mint, you could add extra parsley. (In the comments below, many people said they add up to one whole bunch of chopped parsley!)
Now squeeze the juice from ½ of a lemon. Be sure to strain away any seeds.
When the timer goes off, it’s time to remove the bowl of taboule from the refrigerator and add the chopped tomato, mint, lemon juice, AND 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Mix everything together.
Cover up the bowl again and put it back in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
When you are ready to serve the taboule give it a stir and then spoon it onto a bed of lettuce garnished (decorated) with slices of lemon and mint leaves.
Enjoy!
posted in
Breakfast and Brunch, Eggs, Vegetarian by
Kathy Maister
Difficulty:
If all you’ve got in your refrigerator is eggs, milk and butter, you’ve got yourself a meal.
There isn’t a single time of day that scrambled eggs don’t taste good! Who knows, this simple meal may become one of YOUR signature dishes.
Here is a list of the equipment you will need to make scrambled eggs:
- A small cup to first crack the eggs into to check for shells
- A small bowl to put the eggs in for mixing
- A fork or whisk for mixing
- A small sauce pan or fry pan, preferably non stick
- A silicone spatula
- Measuring spoons
For 2 servings, or 1 ½ eggs per person the Ingredients are;
- 3 eggs
- 2 Tablespoons of milk
- 2 teaspoons of butter
- Salt and pepper to your taste
When you buy eggs in the grocery store, check that there are no broken eggs in the carton.
In the United States, by USDA requirement, eggs come already washed so you can use them straight away.
Begin by cracking each egg individually into the small cup. Check the egg to see that it looks okay and that there are no shells. Then add the egg to the mixing bowl.
Now add a sprinkle of salt and black pepper (to your taste), and 2 Tablespoons of milk to the eggs. (There is some debate – see comments below – about when to add the salt – before or after cooking.)
Beat this mixture with a fork, or a whisk, in a vigorous elliptical motion until the yolks and the whites are all a nice bright yellow and completely blended together.
(Graydon, in the comments below, likes to skip all these steps and just mix everything up in the pan you are cooking in!)
Put the beaten eggs to one side, and melt 2 teaspoons of butter over medium low heat in a non-stick pan. If you turn the burner up too high the eggs will cook faster, but you will end up with very watery, soggy tasting eggs. So be sure to keep the temperature at medium-low.
(Non-stick pans make cleaning up so much easier! However, Non-stick pans can easily be scratched with metal utensils. You’ll need to buy a silicon spatula or scraper. Caution: if you have an old fashioned rubber spatula and not silicone, it will eventually melt when you cook with it.)
When the butter has melted, add the eggs to the pan. As the eggs begin to cook, GENTLY move them around with the spatula so that they cook evenly.
GENTLY and slowly keep stirring otherwise the portion of the eggs on the bottom of the pan will be overcooked, while other portions on the top and won’t get cooked properly.
Continue cooking the eggs until they are thickened but still soft.
Some people like really soft scrambled eggs, other people like really dry scrambled eggs. Just keep gently stirring the eggs until they look like what you think the perfect consistency is.
Transfer the eggs to the plate and serve them immediately. (As Jon pointed out in the comments, the eggs continue to cook even when removed from the pan and will get rubbery if left in the pan.)
If you wish, you can add some extra ingredients while the eggs are cooking. For example, try tossing in some chopped ham, sprinkling in slowly as you stir the eggs. Or you might try adding some shredded cheese, or chopped green onion or chives. My favorite addition is chopped parsley.
To find out even more about eggs, be sure to check out my post “How to: Eggs“.
***
Five Second Rule lives!
YIKES! When I was taking the photographs for this blog post I dropped my camera into the egg mixture! I scooped it out and wiped it off. The automatic lens sticks a little but my camera still works! Who knew?
(Although some of the photos do look a bit hazy!)
Enjoy!
posted in
Vegetables and Beans by
Kathy Maister
When making a salad, lettuce is usually one of the main ingredients.
What you need to know about lettuce is mostly how to wash it and to make sure that it’s edible and attractive.
If you are unsure what type of lettuce to buy, check out my post “Salad Greens From A to Z”.
The lettuce you buy from the supermarket may or not be packaged in some way, but it came from the ground and you can’t just start eating it, unless you’ve bought the pre-washed kind.
When grocery stores started selling pre-washed lettuce I thought it was brilliant, until I bought a bag. I discovered that if I didn’t use it within a day or two it was history (with a bit of a slimy edge). Granted, when I used it immediately, it was a huge time-saver. But, if you know how, it really only takes about 4 minutes to wash, dry and store lettuce.
Knowing how to wash and store lettuce (and other “salad greens”) is not that big of a mystery, particularly if you have a salad spinner. And I do recommend that you get one. They are relatively cheap and they make washing lettuce a snap.
Salad spinners cost about $25. If you eat a lot of salad it is well worth the investment.
However, let’s begin with the “but I don’t have a salad spinner” approach.
First, cut the head of lettuce away from its root with a knife. (You can also just do this with your hands – the root should break off easily.) Then, separate the leaves.
To wash iceberg lettuce first remove the core with a paring knife.
Then break it apart with your hands. (Some heads of iceberg are much firmer than others!)
Fill a large bowl with cool water and gently place the lettuce leaves in the bowl giving them a gentle swish as you drop them in the bowl.
After about 30 seconds of floating in the water the sand or dirt will sink to the bottom. Gently shake the water off each leaf and place them one at a time on paper towels or a clean dish towel. Blot the lettuce dry with some more paper towels.
OK, that’s the manual way. Now let’s use the salad spinner.
A salad spinner is a great little tool for both washing the lettuce and getting the excess water off. It comes in three parts – the bowl, the colander (the bowl with the holes in it) and the lid.
You begin the same way by cutting off the root and separating the leaves. But now, you place the leaves inside the colander, which is sitting inside the bowl.
Fill the spinner with water. All the sand on the lettuce leaves should sink to the bottom.
Lift the colander (with the lettuce in it) out of the bowl, pour away the water, and then replace the colander in the bowl. Finally, put the lid on.
Now you can spin the lettuce by turning the handle. The spinning action will force the water off the lettuce, and help it to dry.
Storing lettuce
If you’re not going to use the whole head of lettuce, then lay out the washed leaves on paper towels…
… and roll them up and put them in a plastic bag.
To save money, you can use the plastic bags from the produce section of the grocery store.
When lettuce is washed and properly stored, it stays fresh in the refrigerator for about 5 to 6 days. However, note that lettuce that you’ve washed yourself and stored properly will last longer then pre-washed lettuce.
