Today’s freshness

Greek salad with herbs, bell peppers and tomatoes from the windowsill, feta, cucumber, and black olives.

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Status update from the windowsill, part 2

When just randomly picking a bunch of lettuces, herbs and veg from my windowsill looks this good…

…it calls for a nice salad with mozzarella, balsamico vinaigrette and a lovely glass of white wine to round it off, right?

Yum.

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New series: Grain review

I have to admit: I’m actually not the grain fanatic in my family. That would be my mother. She’s the one who always brought home interesting new grains to try instead of rice and still does. Now that I no longer live at home, I still sometimes get some strange new sorts of grain from her (when I visit, or in a packet…). And recently, I’ve also started to go from my usual “oh-no-boiling-rice-woud-take-too-long-let’s-have-pasta” attitude over to tasting more healthy and delicious sorts. There really is so much more than rice and wheat! (Nothing wrong with the two, though.)

So, it’s with pride I announce a new series on WereRabbits: Grain reviews!
Each episode will review a different type or variety of food grain, some of its background, my own opinion and my favourite recipe for it.

So let’s start with… (drumroll please)

Bulgur!
Something simple and not too exotic for the first installment of this series.

Made from durum wheat, Bulgur is a staple food in most middle eastern countries. The whole grain is parboiled, then cut, and the bran removed (except in the case of wholewheat bulgur, which I will review separately when I get my hands on a packet). Usually, you can get several different cut sizes, and any supermarket I’ve been to that has a middle-eastern section has at least a coarse and a fine variant.

Like couscous (which is actually pasta and therefore not a proper grain at all), Bulgur can usually be prepared by adding salt, boiling water or stock and a bit of fat (butter or olive oil). However, some of the variants I have encountered (looking at you, Saltå Kvarn!) are somewhat tougher and actually need to be boiled for a few minutes to start soaking up the water properly. When that happens, what should you do? My tip: Just toss the bowl in the microwave for 1-2 minutes and you’ll be fine.
I am also informed that for salads, Bulgur is not supposed to be boiled at all but instead soaked for several hours. Call me a philistine, but I don’t have that kind of patience. My salads taste just as good with boiled Bulgur :)

So my opinion?
Bulgur is a great replacement for couscous in a lot of middle-eastern dishes if you want to add a bit more of that whole-grain healthiness. Sadly it also adds somewhat more dryness and crunchyness to the mix. If you are good with not having to balance that up with a lot of calories, power to you!
I like Bulgur in my bento boxes because it is a lot more filling than couscous while just as quick and no-frills to prepare. It’s also very cheap and readily available almost everywhere.

And my favourite recipe with Bulgur?

Tabbouleh!
Probably the middle-eastern salad, Tabbouleh is tasty, refreshing and overall delicious. I’ve seen varieties that went from mostly bulgur to mostly parsley and everything in between, so I don’t think you should run with set amounts on each ingredient. Just try combining them and see what works for you.

This tabbouleh, which works just fine for me, was made with:
3/4 cup of medium-grain bulgur, boiled in saltwater and butter (yes, yes, I know)
1 big handful of fresh parsley, chopped
1 sprig of fresh mint, chopped
1 handful of cherry tomatoes, chopped
1 spring onion, finely chopped
2 Tsp. lemon juice and 2 Tsp. olive oil.

Just combine everything in a bowl and knead, yes, knead the ingredients together so the flavour gets rubbed in. Let it rest for at least 10 minutes, preferably in the fridge. Serve.

When I have this stuff in my bento boxes I usually up the bulgur ratio a lot and pack it in tight so I bring enough filling carbs to last me the day. When I serve it with lots of other foods on a meze table, I put in a lot of refreshing parsley and mint.

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Bento #309

Back from summer break with this fresh salad bento!
Quinoa marinated with basil oil, vinegar and onions, homegrown rucola, a sundried tomato, homegrown bell pepper and cherry tomato, and corn-on-the-cob flowers. Parsley decoration.

It’s good to be back! Now if I hadn’t forgotten this box at home…

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Bento #301

Had training all last week and lunch was included, so I didn’t get to bring a bento.
In balance, today a super-simple but super tasty bento lunch! Lentil patties, rucola and lettuce from the windowsill, cherry tomatoes, feta rolled in black and pink pepper, bell pepper and vinaigrette (balsamico and olive oil) in the bear cup. I’m bringing homemade pita bread on the side.

BF’s box, basically the same! I like the crop I got in this photo.

A spring greeting from the weekend. First strawberries! And yummy, yummy organic ice cream. :D

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Bento #277 – Happy new year!

Ushering in the new year – and after all this holiday food and candy I had a HUGE craving for a big, green salad!
So I stuffed the thermos section of my thermos box full of lovely green lettuce, carrots and sundried tomato strips. The little marmelade jar holds French vinaigrette.
The other box has somewhat more nutritious spelt and a few pieces of Halloumi, and some parsley and cherry tomatoes as decoration.

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Mother’s Day (in Sweden)

Sweden is celebrating Mother’s Day a little later than other parts of the world, and it’s May 31st this year. Happy Mother’s Day, mom! *waves*

According to a survey done earlier this year, most moms wish for a dinner rather than fancy presents. So take them out to a restaurant – or dine in!
Here’s a lovely salad I recently made when she visited. It’s made from boiled Spelt wheat, which has a delicious and nutty taste that works wonderfully together with the sweetness of the vegetables and the saltiness of the feta.

For 2 persons, I used:
1 measuring cup (100ml) of dry spelt boiled in salt water until al dente
150g feta, crumbled
1 big handful of herbs and leafy vegetables from the garden, including several types of basil, rucola, cress and other herbs, sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, sliced
3 sundried tomatoes, sliced thinly
1 red onion, cut into rings and fried until caramelized
Olive oil (I used some from the sundried tomato jar), lemon juice, freshly ground pepper
You can see on that picture that I also used mushrooms the time I took the photo, but I didn’t think they made a very good addition. The rest of the vegetables are all very strong in taste and harmonize with the rest of the tastes.
I have tried both cooling the spelt before mixing and mixing it in directly. I think I like to mix it in while still warm so the feta can coat it completely, but it’s up to your individual taste – both is good!

So what were you doing for your mom on Mother’s Day?

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Gardening update, May 27

Mm… there’s not really anything that beats food grown in your own home. Jalapeños, cherry tomatoes, rucola and basil, all homegrown. (Bought the mozarella and the baguette, due to a certain lack of buffalo around here and being out of flour :) )

I have a few old-ish pictures to post too, so keep an eye out for more stuff coming soon. I’m not dead, just not very inspired recently. Hope this changes soon!

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Bento #191

Another bento for before art class – since I don’t get a microwave there it’ll have to be eaten cold.
Wholewheat pasta salad with feta, spinach, roasted pine nuts, sundried tomato and figs. Two Emmentaler cheese hearts (leftovers from McDo), jam in the bear cup for dipping, grapes, cherry tomato, some more vinegar and a stuffed chili.

BF gets the same – he doesn’t need vinegar though since he’ll be home, and his cup contains aioli for dipping.

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Bento #171 – heart-y falafel

Top (small box): Couscous salad with parsley and mint (technically Tabbouleh with the couscous ratio cranked way up), two dates and a tiny radish.
Bottom (big box): Heart-shaped falafel on lettuce, organic tomato wedges, grilled Halloumi, Baba Ganoush with olive oil in a muffin cup.
The falafel are restaurant leftovers – I thought they were perfect for bento!

BF gets the same in a square HK box. His radish has a little heart cutout and the falafel show off their heart shape a lot better than in my box.
I’m not happy with the box anyway. The colours kind of run together on the left side, everything is beige. Meh! I should have separated it better.

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