tabbouleh

I like most anything, especially Middle Eastern foods. I prepared lentils and rice with caramelized onions to go along with my North African spiced chicken (cooked in my tangine) Friday night. What to serve alongside the leftover lentils? Well, I have a can of stuffed grape leaves. I also have plenty of parsley left and a cucumber, so why not tabbouleh?
While the authentic uses fine Bulgar, I am out of that and will use the Bob's Red Mill Bulgar I have on hand. I just need to soak it. And just for the record, the authentic has little Bulgar wheat, this being a salad, after all.
I am also putting most ingredients in the food processor. I will leave some cucumber, onion and tomato to chop into the final product, but I just happen to like it done up in the processor. Beware, do the parsley first, then the cucumbers, or else you will have a lot of cucumber juice!

Plenty for me:

1/2 cup medium Bulgar wheat, soaked in 1/2 cup hot water, OR fine Bulgar wheat, no need to soak
1 bunch of parsley
a couple of sprigs of mint, if you have it, and like it. don't overdo it
1 English cucumber, chopped (or let the processor do it)
1 tomato chopped
1/2 onion or green onions
lemon juice to taste
olive oil to taste
salt and pepper to taste
cayenne if you like heat
garlic if you like, don't overdo it

you can substitute zucchini for cucumber but cucumber preferred
some folks who are avoiding wheat use quinoa. cook as specified on the package

I soaked the Bulgar. This took about an hour. Meanwhile, I put the onion, most of the cucumber, garlic, parsley and some mint in the food processor and gave it several whirls.

Once the Bulgar wheat was soft, I added the veggies, lemon juice and oil to taste. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
A nice addition to my Middle Eastern meal this evening.

"I'll never bake another pork loin again."

And she bakes a killer pork loin.

Hubby here.  Chiming in to tell you about how good you have it if you have a pork loin and a pressure cooker.  You may decide to never bake another pork loin, too.  This is from Idiot's Guides - Pressure Cooking by Tom Hirschfeld, mostly.

1 T olive oil
2.5 lb pork loin
1/3 c minced yellow onion
1 T minced garlic
salt
pepper
1 c ale or dry white wine
1 T dijon mustard
1/4 c heavy cream (optional, I did not use)

In a 5.5l pressure cooker, heat oil over medium high heat.  When hot, add pork loin and brown on all sides.

Add onion, garlic, salt, pepper and cook for one minute or until vegetables start to soften.

Add ale and mustard and cook for 2 minutes or until foam subsides and liquid comes to a boil.

Lock on the lid, bring pressure to 2, lower heat, and cook for 30 minutes.  Remove from heat and perform quick release.

Transfer pork to cutting board and cover with foil.

Put the cooker back on the burner, turn up heat to medium high, bring sauce to a boil and cook for at 5 minutes or until thickened and reduced by 1/3.  Adjust seasoning.

Add heavy cream, if using, and cook for two minutes until at desired consistency.

Slice pork, and drizzle with sauce.