Queen of the Potluck

From the City...

I'm a big fan of Mollie Katzen. She has a ton of cookbooks but I use her Moosewood Cookbook as pretty much my kitchen bible, just don't tell my Joy of Cooking. I lean towards it in the summer when there is more fresh veggies than you know what to do with and even in the winter when you're freezer is stocked with frozen blocks of harvest waiting to be turned into a soup or casserole.

When I was at my local vegetable market this morning I noticed that there was a pretty good assortment of ontario grown veggies, hot house tomatoes and some herbs that would nicely fill out the vegetable component of the salad. The great thing about the recipe is that it's pretty adaptable based on what's in season. I omitted the cucumber and instead chose to sneak in a bright (not local) red pepper, I cheated, just a little but yes I cheated. I also totally pillaged my new herb garden by snipping off the baby shoots of dill, mint and like three tiny sprouts of oregano.

This recipe is the best for potluck's. You serve it cold, it tastes better when left for hours, days even and looks so pretty and colorful in the bowl. The recipe also calls for dry lentils and dry bulgur wheat but I prefer quinoa for the following reasons:

• It tastes amazing
• A relative of the green vegetables like spinach and swiss chard
• Not only high in protein but also considered a complete protein meaning that it includes all nine essential amino acids
• I have a huge bag of it that Simon's mom bought me for christmas last year

Here's the recipe, make it and totally rule your next potluck. By rule I mean graciously accept everyone's compliments and requests for the recipe while stating that it was something you just came up with with the leftover contents of your fridge.

Cooked bulgur (cooled) Follow the directions on the package.

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup lemon juice

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp oregano

2 tbsp freshly minced mint

2-3 tbsp minced dill

3 tbsp parsely, minced

fresh black pepper to taste

1/3 cup minced red onion

1 small bell pepper (any colour) diced

1/2 cup crumbled ontario feta

1 medium ontario greenhouse tomato, diced

1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts, optional

*note: I use all of the herb measurements very loosely, I never ever measure herbs. I start with a little and gradually add until I have found the perfect taste.

Add everything to the cooked/cooled bulgur except the tomato chunks and walnuts. Mix gently but thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate.

Before serving, add tomatoes and walnuts.