Tabbouleh, revamped

Normally, when I think of tabbouleh, I think of something that I always sort of wished I enjoyed but which in reality always kind of overwhelmed me.  Usually, the intense green flavor of the parsley and mint knocked my socks off.  It wasn't until I read a bunch of tabbouleh recipes that I realized that, actually, that was sort of the point: a punch of fresh flavor and brightness with the chewy goodness of bulgur.  Either way, tabbouleh has never been my thing (even though it always seemed just out of reach--I wanted to be cool enough to like tabbouleh!).

Tabbouleh!  Only, not as punchy.

Rewind to last Saturday: I was going to a potluck for Alice's Garden, and my plan wasn't to make tabbouleh at all. I wanted to make a broccoli slaw, something with a yogurt dressing and maybe some curry powder and dried cranberries and almonds.  Well, turns out I completely imagined buying broccoli at the store.  There was absolutely no evidence in my fridge that the purported veggie had even come near it.  So, with only a few hours to go til the potluck, I needed to reassess.  I have taken the liberty of recreating my inner monologue for your enjoyment:

What do I have on hand?  Crap, where's the broccoli?  Wasn't it right here next to the celery...wait, did I put it back?  Maybe I changed my mind...shoot, I definitely changed my mind and put it back.  Well, now what am I going to do?  No time to go to the store.  Need a new idea.  (Open cupboard.)  Umm...what do I have a lot of?  Let's see...ooh, how about this barley stuff, I haven't used that yet and I have a whole quart jar of it.  Perfect.  Uhhh...what goes well with barley?  No idea.  (Back to the fridge.)  Hmm.  Okay.  Available green stuff: celery (meh), carrots (err..), kale....hmm.  What about kale? That could work...hmmm and here's a lime...I could do a citrusy vinaigrette to go with it...okay, got it.

So that's how this tabbouleh came to be.  I've recently become really enamored with raw kale salads, so I figured that idea could work combined with cooked whole-grain barley to make a hybrid grain/green salad.

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Recipe:  Kale and Barley Tabbouleh

Time: 1.5 hours, mostly passive

Yield: 5-6 c. salad, probably at least 8 hefty servings

1 c. whole-grain, hull-less barley (I used Bob's Red Mill from the grocery store)

3.5-4 c. vegetable broth

Combine barley and broth (or 4 c. water and some bouillon) and bring to a boil.  Cover and boil for about an hour, or until the barley is cooked.  It will be chewy and sort of pop in your mouth the way corn does when you bite it off the cob.

Cooked & drained barley.  I didn't rinse it or anything, just let
it drain in a strainer in the sink.

While the barley cooks, cut up the kale.  I used about half a bunch from the store.  It was probably 4-5 cups of greens when it was all fluffy.  Here's the secret, though: cut the kale really, really fine.  I cut it into strips about half an inch wide cross-wise, then turned my cutting board 90 degrees and did the same thing going the perpendicular way.  Then I just mowed through the kale in all directions some more until it was like kale confetti.

Barley + Kale.  This is only about a third of the kale that I used.

Once the barley is cooked, drain it and let it cool before you stir in the kale, or it will get all wilted.

Caution! Contains lime!

Now, make some dressing.  I juiced half a lime over the barley & kale, then poured on a few good glugs of olive oil (maybe 1/4 c. or so--eyeball it so it's not too greasy or anything).  Salt and plenty of pepper, and then a good stir so everything's combined.

This was really mild-tasting.  The kale wasn't too bitter or strong, and the lime wasn't too biting, either.  The barley sort of soaked up the dressing, too, so it wasn't too wet.  Overall, this was bright-tasting enough to be fresh but not too strong, such that a tabbouleh-novice like myself could handle it.

Enjoy!