Taboule with a Twist

Taboule with a twist

On Saturday I hit killarney with my healthy, tasty morsels. It was The Summer Fest, that time of year again and Sarah O' Brien had decided to facilitate a "pop up market" with artisan foods and crafts in the Outlet Shopping Centre next to the station in Killarney. The weather [this years main topic] was  mixed. Loading up my car huge sheets of rain bounced around me. "Great the shopping centre will be packed, and with all those fantastic events for kids there will be lots of hungry parents looking for that healthy alternative"!  As i drove towards killarney the sun did what we were about to do: it popped up and shone like a real live summer day, fantastic.
Our beautiful healthy food created a stir from the beginning, and what was most popular was the Ten-a-day salad and an unusual Taboule salad made with a mixture of bulghar and wholemeal cous-cous.
The Former is something we have on every one of our markets and the recipe is easily found in The Phoenix Cookbook. The Taboule has a twist away from the classic Lebonese version and is equally good for festive occasions, big picnics and in this case - event markets.
This recipe makes lots, it will keep and is lovely used the next day as a stir fry.

1 mug [200grams] bulghar
1 mug {200grams] wholemeal cous-cous
[in both cases organic if possible]
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1heaped teaspoon vegetable boullion
2 mugs boiling water
1 mug cold water
2 tbs whole cumin
2 tbs Sunflower oil for frying
2 onions, peeled and diced
4 cloves garlic, peeled and diced
2 small chilli, chopped
1 handfull currants or sultanas, chopped
2 sticks celery, diced
1 leek, diced
The Raw Ingredients
10 cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/2 cucumber , diced
1 handfull black olives, chopped
1 bunch spring onions, chopped
1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped
a few sprigs fresh corriander , chopped
The Dressing
juice of 1 lemon
pepper, salt
2 tbs olive oil

This recipe has three sections:
First mix the bulghar, veg boullion, and the boiling water, stir briefly, cover and rest for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile dry roast the cumin seeds in a wok, when hot to touch add the sunflower oil, onion, garlic, chilli, currents and saute until glassy. Add the leek, celery and fry briefly until the veg is barely cooked and remove from the heat.
Add the cous-cous, tinned tomatoes and cold water to the bulgur and then stir in all the cooked ingredients. The flavours will permeate. Cool and rest for about ten minutes.
Finally add all the other raw ingredients including the dressing and rest for one hour before serving.
This salad can be made hours in advance, which will even improve it; however if  the mixture is a little stiff before serving add more dressing or even a dash of cold water. Decorate with edible flowers, toasted seeds and serve with a colourful selection of salads from The Phoenix market stall.