A Beautiful Lunch

Last night, I whipped up some Tabbouleh with Chicken and Red Pepper, a recipe from the March 2009 issue of Cooking Light . Dee-lish. Very fresh and summery. Cool and minty, yet tangy, too. Next time, I might even try omitting the chicken and using this salad as a side to a nice piece of grilled steak. Serve it up with some crusty bread, a nice glass of Chardonnay, and bing-bang-boom, you've got yourself a meal worth talking about!

Since it hasn't been warm enough for Tyler to bring the grill up from the basement yet and drinking wine at work isn't necessarily acceptable, I had to switch it up for my lunch today. The tabbouleh, half of a Portuguese roll, a hard-boiled egg (using Martha's trusted method), and sliced strawberries. Mmm, mmm, mmm. So good. And so pretty, too, don't you think?


Taboulleh and Chicken and Red Pepper
from Cooking Light

Ingredients
1/2 cup uncooked bulgur
1/2 cup boiling water
1 1/2 cups diced plum tomato
3/4 cup shredded cooked chicken breast
3/4 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1/2 cup diced English cucumber
1/4 cup minced fresh mint
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions
01) Combine bulgur and 1/2 cup boiling water in a large bowl. Cover and let stand 15 minutes or until the bulgur is tender. Drain well; return bulgur to bowl. Cool.
02) Add tomato and remaining ingredients; toss well.

Of note:
-Don't add tomatoes or cucumbers until just about to serve. Otherwise, everything becomes too wet and soggy.
-I found that I didn't have to drain the bulgur at all. You may have to, but my bulgur wasn't that "wet."
-Could use a tad more olive oil, salt, and pepper. Just to flavor it even more. Other than that, it was perfect!

Enjoy!