a tale of Julie Tabbouleh

After our trip to Mozambique, Heather and I arrived home to an empty fridge (which was just the way we left it the week before) and sapped inspiration.

I haven’t told you about the unbelievable meals we were served in Mozambique, and I can’t show them to you, because I took zero pictures of my plates. I’m pretty sure you won’t believe me if I tell you about the amazing South African fare we enjoyed, but I’ll just list a couple scrumptious items that appeared on our weekend menu: yellow rice with raisins, stuffed butternut squash, shrimp (fresh from the ocean!), and coffee muffins (I am hunting for that recipe!).

*side note… you may have lived in Zambia for several months when… one of your weekend holiday highlights is eating fresh grapes!*

As I was saying, we came home to an empty fridge… and depleted creativity in the cuisine department. After Ria’s cooking, I felt incapable in the kitchen. After a couple days without any fresh veggies in the house (you know what it’s like when you open the fridge for the fifteenth time only to discover the same three bottles of salad dressing, ketchup, and jelly… nothing more, nothing less-??) our situation became increasingly desperate.

So, I did what I usually do when I lack culinary inspiration: 1) messaged my aunt (“we arrived home from gorongosa adventures plum run out of creative cooking ideas...”) and 2) began sleuthing the internet. Searches included: “how to make shawarma bread” “easy hummus recipe” “healthy recipes for two blog,” “coffee muffins” (of course!)… and just for kicks, “South African recipes” (not that my cooking could ever duplicate Ria’s).

Enter Julie’s Tabbouleh. This is the second tabbouleh variation I’ve made since arriving in Zambia thanks to a delightful package that included wheat bulgur and couscous (thanks again, Monica!).

The beauty of tabbouleh is that all the ingredients are available FRESH and local here at Nahumba (as long as we've been shopping within the past 5 days)… well, except the grain! hahaha. I even used a lemon from our tree.

Enough rattling on and on. If you want to try your own version of tabbouleh, here’s a link for the recipe I used (of course, I had to make a few adjustments… such as skipping the entire cup of parsley, as Heather’s not a fan of parsley, and I was too lazy to walk out in the dark to get some anyway…)

Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did… come to think of it, I’m still enjoying the garlic breath :P.