Jack’s Midwest / Mediterranean July Picnic
In all of these cases, I go by look and feel of ingredients, and how I’m feeling at the moment. In
the mood for garlic? Or more herbs? Sharpness on the tongue (lemon?) or sweetness (tomato?).
I do no use recipes. Most of the time, with super fresh July veggies like these, I prefer to season
lightly and let the flavors of the cucumber and parsley, eggplant and kohlrabi speak for
themselves. But not everyone likes this style, I get it!
I will approximate how I made this meal, as follows:
Tabouli Salad
1 cup bulgur wheat
1 packed cup chopped parsley (curly or flat leaf will do)
1 packed cup chopped mint (I picked from household garden, tried to de-stem a bit).
2 cloves fresh Bad Dog garlic
~1.2 cup+/- fresh lemon juice, to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
Put dry bulgur in a bowl and cover with lots of fully boiling water. Fluff with a fork to spread
water through grain. Let stand ~10 minutes to absorb, then drain in a fine mesh colander. When
substantially dry, return to bowl and refrigerate until cool (2 hours is ideal, if you want really
refreshing fresh tabouli). Incorporate all other ingredients- including pressed garlic, salt and pepper pre mixed with lemon
juice in a cup- with cooled bulgur, and toss thoroughly. Add more salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with fresh chopped tomato.
Cucumber Salad
3 cucumbers
2-3 Tbsp chopped parsley
3-4 oz cubed feta cheese (more to taste?)
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
1 big clove garlic
Salt and pepper
Peel and cube cucumber into ~3/4” chunks. Pre-mix oil and vinegar, pressed garlic and salt and
pepper in a cup. Mix everything together with a spoon, and chill.
Baba Ganouj
[I love Ganouj this time of year! So I make a big batch… it keeps for days in the fridge. If you
don’t- or if you’ve never tried the stuff and want to hedge your bets- a “normal sized” recipe
would be 2 eggplants and half the other ingredients]
4 mid sized Asian eggplant
1/3+ cup tahini
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (more to taste?)
2 cloves garlic
Salt and pepper
Roast the eggplants as shown. Grill is best, but direct heat on gas stove is ok too (requires more
rotating than closed lid grill). When completely cooked to a near mush, remove from grill, put
on a cutting board, slice the charred skin lengthwise, and lay fruits open to cool for 10 minutes.
When cool enough to handle, scrape all meats out of eggplants, directly into the food processor.
A few flakes of charred skin in the processor is no harm at all (adds that smoky flavor!!).
Combine all other ingredients in the food processor, and puree until smooth. Chill to desired
eating temp, and serve with sliced cucumber or tomatoes, kohlrabi or turnip or whatever you
have on hand.
For me, this picnic becomes a feast with the addition of toasted pita bread, good olives and
perhaps stuffed grape leaves or hummus. In this case I had very little of this on hand, but I DID
have purple beans and summer crisp lettuce in the fridge. Perfect! These chilled picnics are
very well adapted to substitution!