Tabouli, Tabbouleh, Tabouleh

I have no idea how to actually spell tabouli, so I tend to stick with spelling it the simplest way for me. I use to love making this with the Near East box of it, which includes the spice pack and all I had to do was add tomato, cucumber, and feta. Then one day, I couldn't find it anymore! I checked multiple grocery stores across three states (I didn't travel specifically for the tabouli, I just happened to remember to look for it a lot) and I could not find a trace of it! The brand is still around, but not the box of tabouli! I use to make a batch every week, and put a little in a tortilla every day for my lunch, so how was I suppose to live without it?

About 6 months after my crazy tabouli panic began (and don't worry, I was still able to eat lunch, it just wasn't as fun), I found one lone box in a tiny convenience store near my college. I bought it, of course, and studied the ingredient list on the back and looked at the herb medley in the pouch. From there I created my own tabouli, which I found to be a thousand times more enjoyable because I had more freedom with the ingredients. I like it this way a lot more than the packaged kind at the store since it's drier and not mushy and weird. It may not be the official and correct way to make this dish, but it's certainly easy and satisfying, and that's all that really matters.

For an instructional video, watch the Food Ninja show you how it's done!

Click here for the recipe!

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Herbs grow even when I'm not around

I came back a couple days ago from a mini-trip to Boston, and was very excited to see my herbs again! Does that make me wicked lame? Oh well. The day I left (last Thursday) there was a new baby basil growing, and when I came back there were like a thousand more! Or maybe just 5. You understand. It was very exciting for me. Still no dill or sage, but I'm hoping by the end of the week I'll see something.

And the parsley is starting to become awesome! They are sprouting new bits! I tried to take a picture of it, but I'm not sure how clear they can be seen.

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What can I make with basil, parsley, sage and dill?!

I went to the store the other day with the plan of buying sage and mint seeds, and what did they have? Practically nothing! I managed to find the sage seeds, but there was no mint to be found. I really wanted another type too since my brother replanted his pear tree and gave me the empty pot left behind. I couldn't just let an empty pot sit around when it could be the vessel for a glorious herb!

After a great internal debate (and about a half hour looking like a crazy person staring at seed packets) I finally decided upon dill. Why dill? Well, it's tasty, pretty, and makes me laugh because I think it's a silly name. Also I don't have a lot of experience with it and figured this was a good time to learn. Those are good enough reasons for me!

I planted the seeds last night, so it'll be a while until anything interesting happens with them. Although I do expect to see my extra basil soon!

Here are some photo updates of my basil and parsley:

 

Pretty, right?

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Basil and Garlic Pesto

This recipe was taught to me many many years ago (like 3 or 4) by my friend Sarah. The only difference is that we never used a recipe, so here's my attempt at measuring! Don't worry, I did test it out and make changes, and I like these amounts best. Obviously you can adjust it to your own taste, but it never hurts to have a guide!

I really like super garlicky food, but I toned this one down for normal people. When I make it, I tend to double the recipe, seeing as how my family is insane and eats more than one would consider humanly possible. It doubles well, but you might have to adjust the amount of oil or garlic depending on your tastes.

Click here for the recipe!

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Mushrooms, sage, basil, and maybe more!

2 new mushrooms in the parsley! This time I made sure to quickly get pictures before they died (good thing too, because I took the pictures yesterday and they already died by this morning). Is this a normal thing to happen? I have no idea.

A couple days ago I planted some more basil seeds, since there isn't all that much going on in the pot, so hopefully I can see those start to grow soon! Today I plan to go to Home Depot to get some sage seeds to plant next to the parsley, and maybe some other herbs too. Whatever strikes my fancy while I'm there is what will be planted next! It sucks because I want to grow tons of herbs and plants, but I don't really have the space for it, and I would also probably need to buy more grow lights (and I'm way too poor for that!). Oh well, we'll see how it goes!

Isn't the mushroom incredibly random?

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The Food Ninja!

In 2008, I made an amazing video for my final project in a video editing class. It's about The Food Ninja, who breaks into houses and makes delicious, and healthy, treats for people who would otherwise die of malnutrition. In this video, the special treat is Tabouli.

I will be adapting the recipe used in this video for fresh parsley, so this one doesn't quite fit with my theme right now but I just thought this little gem should not be hidden from the world anymore. And so I share it with you all.



The video might be a little strange and jumpy at parts, so you'll have to excuse me for that, but for some reason the audio on parts of the tapes got randomly severely distorted and unusable, so I did the best that I could with what I had.

Many thanks to Sarah, who put up with my craziness as a director and was very patient as a ninja should be.

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Quick Basil Marinara

This marinara is fantastic to use in lasagna, pizza, or even just as a dip for Italian bread. It's quick, simple, tasty, and easy to adjust to your own personal taste. You can always add some oregano for an extra pizza flavor, or add some spice, or meat. Play with it and you'll come out with amazing variations.

The sauce can be used immediately or stored in the fridge. When I'm using it the same day, I usually keep the heat on very low after it's done simmering, while preparing other ingredients, then store any extra sauce left behind.

This recipe is inspired by, and adapted from, Giada De Laurentiis's Quick Marinara recipe.

Click here for the recipe!

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Mushroom Mayhem

I swear I did NOT mean to grow mushrooms. I have no idea how this happened. I went to check my basil last night, got all excited to see some extra life, looked closely, and there it was: a mushroom. It did make me feel a little better, since at first I thought it was an albino basil or something to that effect. So I think I'll leave it alone for now and see what happens. I have no idea if it's from the soil, or the seeds, or cosmic weirdness, but it's at
least interesting. Whatever, that was last night. Today i discovered another basil bit! At first i thought "oh no, just more random musrooms", which, to be fair, is usually the first thing I think when something happens. However, as usual, I was wrong! It's more basil! I'm not a basil failure!

The parsley is a veritable forest. However adorable and miniature, it is still a forest. I didn't even realize I planted that many seeds! I hope they don't get too overcrowded. I might be exaggerating a little, but compared to the basil the parsely is growing crazy fast. Oh, and  what have we here? Of course, a mushroom has come to visit the parsley as well! I'm just going to go aead and assume it's completely harmless, and most likely from the soil. It is cute, and adds more character to the planters, so for now it can stay. The second it becomes unappealing and icky, it will get ripped out and destroyed. With glee.  

Update: Mushrooms quickly died before I got a chance to take a picture! What's that all about?

Here's my basil and parsley thus far!

                                              

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Grow Faster!

Basil, why so sad? There's still only one bit of basil to be found in this vast pot of soil. Granted, it is a LOVELY bit of basil, but I thought that once it started then more would surely join the party. Maybe it's way too soon, and the one piece that is there is actualy a freak of basil? I don't know! I have no idea how long these things take, but everyone tells me I need to be patient. How lame is that?

My parsely, however, loves me. It's very obvious. I discovered it was growing on Jan. 30th, right? Well, by the end of that day, there were already two more growing! Now there are a thousand! Not literally. Calm down, I'm not that amazing. My basil is being completely lame right now, but at least my parsely gives me something new everyday. They're getting kind of tall and wicked thin, is that normal? Grown parsley is like that, so I guess it makes sense. But it's so long and weak looking, like an awkward, gangly kid.

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