Tabouleh salad always leads to licked clean plates in our house; basically if we want leftovers for another meal I have to hide some. The dish is typically made with bulgur as the staple grain, but we prefer a lighter version made with couscous instead. The other advantage of couscous is the quick cooking time: a couple of minutes in the microwave and a few minutes cooling and the dish is ready to compose.

Also spelled tabbouleh or tabouli, this Mediterranean salad is a vegetarian’s delight, and consists of a cooked grain tossed with olive oil, onion or green onion, mint, tomatoes, parsley, and lemon juice. Or add any other vegetable you have on hand. I had some orange and yellow peppers so added a few of those. Chopped vine leaves, garlic, and cucumber are often seen additions as well. I have been known to toss in a bit of basil, OK, a lot of basil, which is probably not kosher but is tasty. If it makes you feel better, lower the blinds first and/or call it “couscous salad” rather than tabouleh, so as not to offend the purists. I won’t even tell you about my version with feta cheese…

The proportions vary wildly with “store bought” tabouleh – we have purchased some that was 95% parsley, with a sprinkling of grain making a cameo appearance. We like a more balanced version with plenty of grain, but the choice is yours. Assemble the basic chopped ingredients and mix with the grain until you like the results, then drizzle in the olive oil and finally add lemon juice, salt & pepper to your taste. I was lucky enough to have Meyer lemons on hand which have a sunny robust flavor and less acidity than regular lemons, but any lemon will do. The salad is supposed to taste lemony!

Here’s a suggested starting point re how much of what to incorporate, but feel free to make it your own.

Ingredients:

2 cups couscous or bulgur, cooked and cooled
2-4 green onions, or one medium onion, chopped
3/4 cup chopped parsley, flat or curly
1/2- 1 cup fresh mint leaves, chopped
1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes, seeded and peeled
1/2 cup chopped red, green or yellow sweet peppers – optional
4-5 T olive oil
3-5 T lemon or Meyer lemon juice

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The sun has finally decided to show itself here in Seattle, which means the barbecue has once again been hauled out of the garage and has settled back into its usual spot on the patio. At last. What better way to wrap up a nice sunny afternoon than to throw something tasty down on the grill?

For tonight’s grilling pleasure I chose one of our favorite cuts of meat: flank steak. Flank steak (sometimes known as London broil) is cut from the belly of the cow, is long and flat, and relatively tough – but very flavorful! Since it tends to be on the chewier side most preparations call for marinating or braising in order to break it down.

Another foolproof method is to simply sear it on high heat until medium rare and slice it thinly. The results are tender, tasty and succulent pieces of steak. Here’s one of my favorite crowd-pleasing preparations:

3 cloves of garlic, crushed or finely minced
¼ cup parsley, finely chopped
Juice of half a lemon and the zest
Olive oil
Salt and black pepper to taste
Baby arugula
Parmigiano reggiano cheese
Truffle oil (optional)

Rub the garlic and salt on one side of the steak then spread the chopped parsley, creating a paste. Drizzle with olive oil, and add fresh ground black pepper and the juice of half a lemon. Grill on high for 4-6 minutes on each side, turning 90 degrees to get those nice grill marks. Let your meat rest about 10 minutes before slicing.

Thinly slice the meat against the grain and at an angle. On a platter, make a bed of fresh baby arugula and lay your slices of meat on top. Shave slices of parmigiano reggiano on top, add some lemon zest, give it a little drizzle of truffle oil and you’re good to go!

We served this al fresco along with a simple Caprese salad and rosemary roasted red potatoes.

Note: How can you tell if your steak is medium-rare? Poke the steak with either your finger or fork. If it feels squishy then it’s rare. The tip of your nose feels like a well-done steak. If you want a visual guide check out The Finger Test For Doneness from the Science of Cooking.

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