Tabbouleh, Hummus and Pita Platter

Buffet on Table: Week 1 -- Combos from Countries

Day 4: Middle East -- Tabbouleh, Hummus & Pita Platter

Our next stop for an amazing International Combo meal is in the Middle East. This Tabbouleh, Hummus, pita and falafel platter has been something I have planned to make for a very long time. Finally I made them all for the Mega marathon :-)

Tabbouleh is a traditional Middle Eastern dish. There are many versions for this bulgur wheat salad. This recipe is from Vegetarian Times magazine and I'm assuming it is from Lebanon since it is more about the herbs and less about the bulgur grain itself.

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Turkish Bulgur Pilaf (Firik Pilau)

I made this Pilau or Pilaf to go with the Turkish Fasulye/ Barbunya Pilaki that I made last week. The recipe is from 'The Middle Eastern Vegetarian' cookbook by Sally Butcher. The original recipe uses Freekeh is young green wheat and has been used for centuries in the Middle east. It is a versatile and nutritious grain and can be used in soups, salads, cakes and bread, as a cereal and can be used in place of rice.

After all that information on freekeh which I thought I had in my pantry, I was bummed to see I used it all. So I went to plan B and used bulgur instead. Roasted buckwheat can also be used instead of freekeh. The pilaf turned out delicious even with the substitution.

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Turkish Bulgur Pilaf with Veggies

I thought bulgur was used to make Tabbouleh only until I ate this pilaf. I should have known, bulgur to Turkish is like rice to South Indians -- the many variations of rice we enjoy is incredible. So bulgur
is used in both savory and sweet preparations. Bulgur is made from groats of several different wheat species. It looks like our wheat rawa and it probably is Turkish wheat rawa -- I'm not sure (if any of you do, please add your comment below).

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Tabbouleh with Guacamole in a Tortilla Wrap

This morning my son, who just woke up, asked me why doesn’t our town have “nowhere”. I was searching for words for a little bit and said there is nothing called “nowhere”. He retorted back, then how did Lightning Mcqueen (the race car in Cars movie) get lost in the middle of nowhere???? Every town should have a "middle of nowhere". I was thinking to myself, how the heck am I supposed to know that, ask the people at Disney who made the movie. Phew, these kids make you sweat sometimes.. 

Well since the day started with a LOT of thinking, I decided not to think too much about dinner and to keep it simple and easy. Keeping with the “Cooking from the cookbook” theme I made Bulgur tabbouleh with guacamole from The Ultimate Book of Vegan Cooking, wrapped them up in a tortilla and called it a day..

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