A RECIPE: Tabboulish chopped salad

I’ve just returned from a week in the Dominican Republic- poor me, I know.  If it’s any consolation I did manage to come home with a sun burnt scalp, which resulted in the embarrassment of dandruff-esque peeling but as with most trips I take I came back desperate for vegetables, and lots of them! Gluttony seems to take its toll on my system and a detox is always in the cards for the week following.  With a feeling of spring in the air in NYC I decided to stray from my typical cooked salads for this time of year and go out on a limb. Okay, so I skipped Spring and headed straight for summer with this salad based on tabbouleh. One can only dream, right?

Tabbouleh, because I love it and tabboulish because I didn’t have any bulghur wheat- plus I took some creative liscence. To stop it from becoming just a mouthful of herbs I added spinach into the mix, along with orange segments and pinenuts. Oh, okay so I got a bit carried away and tossed in some pancetta and celery too. It’s great on it’s own or with a grilled chicken breast but my favourite was stuffing it into a whole wheat pita with hummus. The orange segments and mint keep it tasting fresh, the pinenuts and feta add a creamy element whilst the onion and lemon keeps your mouth on high alert; preventing you from day dreaming off to warmer days. It’s a win win combination.

Enjoy.

Tabboulish chopped salad

The idea here is to chop and mix. You can vary the sizes of everything to keep it looking interesting or you could just relax and eat it as it is. You could easily swap the orange segments for grapefruit, substitute the nuts and onion- but this is a good base to work from. Whatever the case, it’s perfect after a week of gluttony.

Serves: 4

Diet Facts: Couldn’t be healthier if I tried

100g/ 4 oz baby spinach, coarsley chopped

1 large bunch (about 50g/2oz) flat leaf parsley, coarsely chopped

1 large bunch (about 30g/1oz) mint leaves, coarsely chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped or thinly sliced

450g/1lb tomatoes, cored and chopped

1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced or chopped

50g/2 oz feta, crumbled

50g/2 oz cooked bacon on pancetta, chopped (optional)

1  orange, segmented and remaining juice squeezed and reserved

1/2 lemon, juice

1 Tbsp olive oil (or more if you fancy)

1/ Chop it all up and toss together with the reserved orange juice, lemon juice and olive oil. Season to taste and serve.