Two Refreshing Summer Salads

Tabouleh
I first had tabouleh at a cafe in Ste. Anne de Bellevue, some twenty years ago. The place was run by a couple of hippies struggling to raise a young family. It was a tiny storefront, squeezed into the boardwalk amongst the bigger pubs, the pool hall, and a dozen other more prosperous businesses. When you walked in on the ground floor, there was barely room for the food preparation area and one table, pushed right up under the window. But if you knew the secret of the place, you would head up the stairs and enter a magical world of mismatched cutlery and dishes, Xeroxed menus in duo-tang covers, and tables made from old trundle sewing machine bases.

It was dimly lit in the big room at the top of the stairs. On hot July days it felt so good to retreat to the cool, dark refuge and escape from the blazing yellow sun beating down on the sidewalks. Martha dragged me in one day to try a spiced apple juice - or was it a julep of fruit juice and vanilla ice cream? William even got a job there, earning himself the moniker "Bowie Bill" for the music he played while he worked. The Mirva was probably my favourite place in Montreal, from that day until the night it closed its doors for good.

The menu of the Cafe Mirva was an odd collection, much as its furnishings and its clientele. We learned to eat tahini and sliced apple sandwiches on thickly sliced whole wheat bread from the bakery across the street. There was a hot and sour soup for which I have still not found an adequate substitute, and endless cups of Celestial Seasonings tea. Sometimes we would munch on crudites served with Brie. And then there was the tabouleh salad.

Tabouleh is a Middle Eastern dish. It is a salad made with both vegetables and grain. I have seen versions that call for couscous, but I like it better with bulgur wheat. The salad is green and fresh, with mint and parsley, and it is flavoured with lemon and oil, and topped with leeks and tomatoes. There is really nothing else that can compare.

Tabouleh takes time to make. It is not the kind of dish you want to whip up at the last minute, but if you are expecting company you can make it the day before and let it chill. When your guests arrive you can be chatting with them, until just before you want to serve your meal.

Tabouleh Recipe
3 cups chopped flat leaf parsley
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh mint
2-3 leeks, washed well and chopped
6 tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 cup medium bulgur
6 tbsp lemon juice
6 tbsp olive oil
freshly cracked black pepper
a few leaves of Romaine lettuce (optional)

Soak the bulgur in cold water for about 2 hours. You can cook it following the directions on the package if you wish, but keep in mind that it will need time to cool. Squeeze out any excess water manually. Add lemon juice, oil and pepper. Mix in the parsley, mint, tomatoes and leeks; stir well. Let sit in the fridge a few hours for the best taste. Just before serving, line a plate with a few lettuce leaves, and scoop the salad onto the lettuce.

Three Bean Salad
This is a variation on a recipe my mother gave me a few years ago. Bean salads are another good dish to make ahead. Legumes are a meat substitute, which makes them a great choice for summer days when it is too hot to turn on the oven and nobody feels much like eating, despite being hungry. Legumes also provide fibre, which can help to lower cholesterol and regulate blood sugar levels. This bean salad is particularly refreshing because of the crisp bell peppers in it. The feta cheese adds a touch of saltiness, and rounds out the texture perfectly.

Three Bean Salad Recipe
3 large cans three bean mix (kidney, Romano, garbanzo)
3 celery stalks, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
1/2 each red, yellow and orange bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped finely
1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1 tsp dried rosemary leaves
pepper to taste
1/3 cup feta cheese, drained and cubed

Drain beans and rinse well. Add chopped vegetables and parsley. Whisk together the oil, vinegar and seasonings; pour over the salad and toss well. Fold in feta, being careful not to let it crumble too much. Chill several hours before serving, to allow beans to absorb the flavours.

I love to serve these two salads together. Eaten in larger portions, they replace the meat and potatoes of a more traditional North American supper. They will leave you feeling full, but at the same time refreshed. They are also great side dishes for a picnic or BBQ. Try them instead of your coleslaw and potato salad, or add them to a buffet table alongside these old favourites and have some of each!