Red Pepper Tabbouleh

OK, so the recipe card this is printed on spells it "tabbouli" but I've grown up with it spelled the way I wrote it in the subject, so that's what I'm going with.

This is another clip-and-keep recipe from Clean Eating Magazine. It appealed to me for several reasons:

1. We love tabbouleh

2. It calls for tons of veggies that I happen have

3. I get to use up several odds and ends before going out of town

To make it safe for The H, I subbed cooked, leftover quinoa for the bulgur (cracked wheat). This meant I could skip Step 1 altogether. I also added some green onions--to use them up, and because my mom's recipe calls for them--to Step 4.

Red Pepper Tabbouleh

from Clean Eating Magazine

serves 8

Ingredients:

1 cup bulgur

1 tsp olive oil

2 red peppers, diced (2 cups)

2 stalks celery, diced (1 cup)

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/4 tsp sea salt

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 bunch parsley, minced (1 cup)

For the dressing:

Juice of 1 lemon (1/4 cup)

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

Instructions:

1. In a medium sized heatproof bowl with lid, pour 2 cups boiling water over bulgur. Cover and place in refrigerator for 45 minutes.

2. Pour oil into a large nonstick skillet. Add peppers and celery, sprinkle with basil and salt, and saute on medium high heat for 3 minutes. Add garlic and saute another 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

3. In another small bowl, stir together dressing ingredients.

4. When bulgur is finished soaking and water is absorbed, spoon it into a large bowl with the sauteed vegetables. Add parsley. Pour dressing over and stir gently.

I love watching a pile of fresh parsley go from this

to this. It makes such a satisfying crunchy sound, and smells so fresh!

The recipe states 1 cup of celery, so that is what I was going for--it took me four celery hearts to get there.

I snacked on some with Food Should Taste Good buffalo tortilla chips this afternoon. While it's different than what I'm used to, it was very good. Never would I have thought to add celery, balsamic vin, or basil to my tabbouleh--let alone cook some of it--but it was a nice change from the usual. There is no difference (in my humble opinion) between using quinoa or bulgur for the grain portion.

How do *you* spell tabbouleh/tabbouli?

Nutrition information for 3/4 cup serving, minus chips:

Calories - 93

Total fat - 2g

Saturated fat - 0g

Carbs - 17g

Fiber - 4g

Sugars - 2g

Protein - 3g

Sodium - 89mg

Cholesterol - 17mg