Edible herbs have long been an important foodstuff in the Middle East, and the parsley salad called tabbouleh comes originally from the mountains of Lebanon and Syria. It’s traditionally made with bulgar, wheat berries that have been cooked, dried, and cracked so they store longer and cook faster, but it’s possible similar herb salads were made with the parched green wheat called frikeh. Harvested when the sugar and moisture content is high, the wheat is burned in the field to remove the chaff and other inedible parts, and the grains take on a slightly smoky flavor.
Like other whole grains, frikeh gets simmered in salted water until it’s tender, about 45 minutes. Once cooked, it can be stored in the refrigerator for several days.
Finely chop the leaves of an entire bunch of flat leaf parsley (and some of the tender stems if you want) and about half as much fresh mint. Combine the herbs with the frikeh, some chopped green onion, lemon juice, and lemon zest.
Blend in some of New York Shuk’s preserved lemon paste and baharat spice blend along with plenty of extra virgin olive oil, salt, and black pepper.
Tabbouleh is usually served with fresh tomatoes, but if we can’t get local, in-season tomatoes, we prefer the semi-preserved cherry tomatoes from Aldo Armato.
Those of you who’ve shopped with us for a few years know that every spring we offer our customers a chance to participate in our Olive Oil CSA* to help us continue supporting our small farm partners. Typically, it works like this: Until the end of May, you can buy a CSA share for $100. 60 days after purchase, that share converts and is worth $120, and it’s good for anything we sell at Wellspent Market, not just olive oil.
This year, we’ve decided to extend the offer, and have just made 100 more shares available for purchase. International shipping has been severely impacted by the pandemic, and while Italy is slowly opening up, our olive oil delivery has been delayed. So if you missed it the first time around, now is your chance to grab one of our last available CSA shares before our container arrives sometime (we hope!) in late July.
*We know it’s not technically a CSA, but who wants to read about Olive Oil Futures?
