Lebanese Feast: Tabouli and Mjeddrah

I wanted to make a cheap, delicious, and hearty meal to bring on a long drive to upstate New York.  Food options along a highway are generally pretty grim, so we packed the car with wonderful food to eat on the way.  In addition to this Lebanese feast, I packed some slices of zucchini bread, blueberries, and red grapes.  Yum!  The tabouli was also a great way to use up all of that gorgeous curly parsley.  Next time, I would want to use a food processor to chop the parsley up smaller.

Ingredients

For the Tabouli

2 cups bulghur wheat
2 cups boiling water
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
The green parts of 8 spring onions, sliced
1/2 cup fresh mint, stems removed and finely chopped
1 large bunch curly parsley, stems removed and chopped as finely as possible

Juice of 2 fresh lemons (about 1/2 cup juice)

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper

2 tsp salt

For the Mjeddrah

1 cup brown lentils, rinsed

1 cup brown basmati rice, rinsed

5 cups water

2 tsp salt

3 tbsp olive oil

The white parts of 8 spring onions, finely chopped

1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper

1/2 tsp ground cumin

Method

For the Tabouli

1.  Mix together the bulghur wheat and boiling water in a small heatproof bowl and cover for about 30 minutes until completely soaked.

2.  In a large bowl, mix together the cucumber, tomato, spring onions, mint, and parsley.

3.  Add the soaked bulghur wheat and mix well.

4.  Add the lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper and mix well.

5.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill in fridge for at least 1 hour before serving.

For the Mjeddrah

1.  Add the water and 1 tsp salt to a covered saucepan and heat on high.

2.  When the water is boiling, add the lentils and rice, then replace cover and turn the heat to low to allow mixture to simmer.  Simmer this mixture for 45 min.

3.  Heat the olive oil in a nonstick pan at medium heat.  

4.  When the oil is hot, add the onions and stir occasionally.  The onions will be best if cooked low and slow for a long time until browned evenly.  They will take at least 20 minutes to cook, but better if cooked longer.

5.  When the lentil/rice mixture is finished, add the cooked onions, pepper, cumin, and remaining salt. Stir well.  Enjoy hot or at room temperature.

I served the tabouli over the mjeddrah.