I wanted to make a substantial version of tabbouleh for vegetarians. You can do pretty much what you want with this. I give a list of possible ingredients and you can add or subtract at will and to taste. Most tabbouleh recipes are very heavy on the chopped parsley, almost as if that ingredients is standing in for lettuce, but you don’t have to add that much. You could even, if you wanted to, add some shredded cooked chicken, if you have any sitting around that you want to use up, but this is such a good dish for vegetarians (and even vegans) that it’s probably good to leave it meat-free.
Salads and Dressings
Easy (Or at Least Easier) Roasted Red Peppers
Holding the whole pepper on a fork over a gas flame, turning it until all sides are blackened. Putting the peppers directly on an electric burner, again monitoring it and turning it until done. Putting the peppers under the broiler. Putting the roasted peppers into a paper bag to steam. Rinsing every bit of blackened skin off under running water. On and on. While these peppers are a great addition to salads, they sometimes can seem more trouble than they’re worth. But they’re very expensive if you buy them at the grocery store, and I don’t think they taste as good as the freshly-made ones. So here’s my take on them, which is still finicky but easier than the run-of-the-mill procedures.
Make-Your-Own Croutons
This is another sort-of-fiddly item that I make because I can’t stand the thought of buying them pre-made. They’re really not all that hard. This is more of a procedure than a recipe. I’ve made them with Italian flavors since that fits with my usual homemade salad dressing, creamy Italian. Other spices could include cumin or smoked paprika. Fresh herbs wouldn’t work as they’d tend to burn.
My House Italian Salad Dressing
I am mildly obsessed with salad dressing and for the most part refuse to buy the store-bought stuff. The following is a recipe that I have tweaked and tweaked until it’s pretty much perfect. There is almost always a container of it sitting in our fridge. A perfect salad to go with this perfect dressing consists of romaine, spinach, red onion, roasted red peppers, homemade croutons, and perhaps some toasted pine nuts, if you can stand to pay for them.
An Easy Refreshing Slaw
I first came up with this recipe for the Cherry Creek Chorale picnic that we had at our house back in August, before I started this blog. I wanted something crisp and refreshing and thought of this combination. Napa cabbage tends to come in huge heads, so two of them were enough for an expected number of 50. People don’t tend to eat a lot of salad at a buffet, I’ve found. I ended up getting someone to help me dice the apples and walnuts at the last minute, so I didn’t have to worry about the apples turning brown.
Napa Cabbage-Apple-Walnut Slaw
Don't use regular cabbage for this recipe--it's too bitter. Napa cabbage is much milder and sweeter, but it still has the cabbage characteristic of not wilting in dressing. Napa cabbage tends to come in huge heads, so two of them were enough for an expected number of 50. People don't tend to eat a lot of salad at a buffet, I've found. I pre-shredded the cabbage the night before and stored it in plastic bags in the fridge. I think I ended up wasting too much of it, as I usually don't include much of the ribs, but sliced thinly they're fine. I usually just use the leaves, but next time I'm going to be more frugal. Sometimes when you slice into the cabbage it's all brown in the middle, and there are often brown spots here and there, so you will have to do at least some discarding. Granny Smith apples work well, diced into 1/4" pieces, as many as you like, and some chopped walnuts. The dressing couldn't be easier, with just four ingredients: I like to try to match the vinegar in the dressing to the salad, so for this one I used cider vinegar. If I'm making the dressing for, say, a strawberry-spinach salad, I like to use raspberry vinegar if I have it on hand. Otherwise red wine vinegar at least makes the dressing pink.
Servings 12
Ingredients
Slaw:
- 1 medium head Napa cabbage Much sweeter and milder than regular cabbage.
- 2-3 Granny Smith apples diced
- 1 cup chopped toasted walnuts
Dressing:
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup vinegar Cider vinegar is nice here since it matches the apples.
Instructions
-
Slice cabbage thinly, using the ribs as long as they don't have brown spots. Wash and spin dry in a salad spinner. Toss with apples and walnuts, then with dressing. Amount of dressing needed will depend very much on the size of the cabbage head. You can also vary proportions of cabbage to apples to walnuts to your taste.