Changing?

Things are changing in the world of the Wounded Chef.

But despite this, I still managed to get some fresh local foods in me. Last weekend, I grilled a chicken breast from Quattro and a red pepper, and so my lunch for the week was sandwiches of homemade whole wheat bread, garlic marinated grilled red peppers, and grilled chicken.

Just now for dinner, I made myself another peanut sauce stirfry with broccoli, pepper, onion, and the rest of the grilled chicken.

And yesterday I helped prepare food for a very vegetarian friendly barbecue. Earlier in the day I went to the farmers market to pick out goods for vegetable kebobs - peppers of varying colors, deliciously sweet cherry tomatoes, onion, zucchini, and mushrooms (from the supermarket because there were no mushroom vendors at the market yesterday). I chopped everything into 2-inch pices and then marinated them for an hour in a marinade using what my friend Cassie had in her pantry - soy sauce, water, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, and garlic powder. Then we painstakingly skewered all of the kebobs,and thankfully someone else did the grilling work. They were a big hit. Thanks to Cassie for hosting an amazing party - the high point might have been when a room full of singers belted out old-school angsty Alanis Morisette songs.

For the party I also made tabbouleh, a Mediterranean dish that is best eaten scooped up with pita chips, crackers, or flatbread. Last night we ate it with pita chips, but I saved some tabbouleh to bring to another bbq tomorrow, so to accompany that, I just made the rosemary flatbread from July Gourmet that Deb recently spoke so highly of. The recipe is similar to that of homemade crackers I've made before, but the addition of baking powder really lightens things up into a beautifully crisp and tasty flatbread, perfect for snacking. My past cracker were heavy and not crisp, no matter how thin I rolled the dough. Although, actually, I almost think this flatbread is too light - I would sub in half whole wheat flour next time to give it a little more flavor and heft.It's is going to be my new base recipe that I use whenever I want to make some kind of cracker.

Tabbouleh

1 cup bulgur
1 1/2 cup boiling water
2 tomatoes
1 cucumber
handful of fresh herbs such as mint, parsley, basil
1/2 red onion
3 cloves garlic
1/2 lemon
2 tsp red wine vinegar
salt
pepper

Pour boiling water over bulgur in a bowl, stir, and let sit for 20-30 minutes until water is mostly absorbed and bulgur has softened. It will still be a little crunchy. Drain any extra water.

Meanwhile, chop vegetables and herbs into a fine dice and combine in a large bowl. Add the zest and juice of half a lemon, along with the red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper. When the bulgur is ready, add to the large bowl and stir to combine. It is best if made ahead of time and kept in the fridge for at least a few hours to allow the flavors to mingle.