Weekly mise en place.

One great way to ensure that you’re not in the kitchen all week is to make a few large portions of something that will last. I usually do this on Sunday night but I had a wedding last night (a GREAT wedding!) so I did it tonight. I made gazpacho and tabbouleh salad.

Gazpacho:

First I peeled 5 large tomatoes. To accomplish this, you must core the stem end and make an X on the other end. Then place the tomatoes in boiling water for about 15-20 seconds, then transfer directly into an ice bath. The boiling water expands the tomato and then the ice water quickly contracts it, so the skin remains loose enough to easily peel off.

Then, I seeded the tomatoes and chopped them in the Cuisinart with 1/4 red onion, 1 small clove garlic and peeled cucumber, olive oil and some sherry vinegar.

The complete gazpacho looks better in real life. But anyway, it tastes good.

I was inspired to make tabbouleh when I saw it on sale for something absurd, like $4.99 for a small container. It was super easy to make, and I got a very large bag of bulgur wheat for $3.49 (which will probably make 20 servings or more!)

It is really easy to make, and there is no real cooking (Sam would be sent home if this was a Top Chef challenge).

Tabbouleh:

First soak the bulgur for about 30 minutes in boiling water, then drain any water remaining. Then add chopped/seeded tomato, chopped cucumber, chopped parsley (LOTS), olive oil/lemon juice, salt/pepper. Mint is traditionally added too, but I didn’t have any. Oh well. Still good.

Tomorrow’s lunch:

gazpacho, tabbouleh, and a sandwich (on fresh bread), Roast beef for Matthew, fakin’ bacon for me (–which is actually much better, and much less frankenfood than it sounds…its just strips of seasoned , marinated tempeh.)

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