Middle Eastern Tabouli Salad

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups water
1 cup bulgur wheat, dry
1 clove garlic – minced
2 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 pound red onion – diced fine
1/2 cup mint (fresh) – chopped fine
1/2 cup parsley (fresh) – chopped fine
1/2 pound tomatoes (fresh) – diced

Preparation

Note: start preperation at least 3 hours before serving.

1. Bring the water to a boil.
2. Place the bulgur wheat into a large pot.
3. Add boiling water to the bulgur wheat, stir, and then cover tightly with lid or another bowl and allow the bulgur to sit undisturbed for 20 minutes.
4. Drain if necessary. Fluff the bulgur with a fork. Allow it to cool.
5. After the bulgur is cooled, add the remaining ingredients except tomatoes (minced garlic, lemon juice, chopped mint, olive oil, salt, black pepper, diced red onion, chopped parsley) and toss until well blended.
6. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour to allow the flavors to marinate.
7. Add tomatoes 10 minutes before serving and  toss gently to prevent sogginess.
8. Toss salad again before serving.

Yogurt or Buttermilk Soup With Spinach and Grains

By MARTHA ROSE SHULMAN

This is informed by my yogurt or buttermilk soup with wheat berries from a few weeks ago, but this time I stirred chopped steamed spinach into the refreshing mixture. It’s a great soup to keep on hand as summer arrives. For a particularly irresistible version, add some diced avocado.

3/4 pound (1 generous bunch) spinach, stemmed and washed in 2 changes of water, or 6 ounces baby spinach, rinsed

1 1/2 cups finely diced cucumber (2 Persian cucumbers)

Salt to taste

5 cups plain low-fat yogurt (free of gums and stabilizers) or buttermilk, or a mixture of the two

1 cup finely diced celery

1 to 2 garlic cloves (to taste), finely minced or puréed with a little salt in a mortar and pestle

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (more to taste)

1 cup cooked barley, spelt, kamut or farro

2/3 cup diced radishes

Freshly ground pepper to taste (optional)

1/2 teaspoon sumac (more to taste)

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Optional: 1 ripe Hass avocado, cut in small dice

1. Place the cucumber in a bowl and sprinkle with salt. Toss and place in a strainer set over the bowl. Allow to drain for 15 minutes. Rinse if desired and drain on paper towels.

2. Meanwhile, steam the spinach above 1 inch of boiling water until wilted, 1 to 2 minutes, moving the leaves around with tongs once to ensure that they steam evenly. Rinse with cold water and squeeze out excess moisture. Chop medium-fine.

3. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Thin out with ice water if desired. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Chill for one hour or longer.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

Advance preparation: You can make this several hours before serving, but wait a while before you stir in the spinach so that its color doesn’t fade too much. If you’re making the soup to eat during the week (it makes a terrific lunch) keep the spinach separate and stir it into each serving.

Nutritional information per serving (6 servings): 211 calories; 4 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 1 gram monounsaturated fat; 12 milligrams cholesterol; 32 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 209 milligrams sodium (does not include salt to taste); 14 grams protein

Nutritional information per serving (8 servings): 158 calories; 3 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 1 gram monounsaturated fat; 9 milligrams cholesterol; 24 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 157 milligrams sodium (does not include salt to taste); 11 grams protein

What we eat

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Human endurance under water

Sweet Potato, Carrot and Dried Fruit Casserole

This dish is inspired by several tsimmes recipes in Joan Nathan’s “Jewish Cooking in America.” Tsimmes, a Yiddish word that means “fuss,” doesn’t have to be fussy at all. Sometimes the dish contains meat (and is fussier than this one), but sometimes it’s just fruit and vegetables. Warning: You may find yourself eating this for breakfast.
6 medium carrots (about 1 1/2 pounds), peeled and cut in 3/4-inch dice
3 medium sweet potatoes (about 2 1/4 pounds), peeled and cut in 3/4-inch dice
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut in medium dice
1/4 pound pitted prunes, cut in half
1/4 pound pitted apricots, quartered
2 tablespoons mild honey, like clover
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Salt to taste (about 1/2 teaspoon)
1 cup fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Note: Sweet potatoes may be labeled as yams. Look for dark orange flesh.
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter or oil a 3-quart baking dish.
2. Place the carrots and sweet potatoes in a steamer set above 1 inch of boiling water, and steam for five to 10 minutes, until just tender. Drain and toss with the remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Combine well, and scrape into the prepared baking dish. Place in the oven, and bake 40 to 50 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes, until the sweet potatoes and carrots are thoroughly tender. Dot the top with butter, and bake another 10 minutes until the top is lightly browned. Remove from the heat, and serve hot or warm.
Yield: Serves eight.
Advance preparation: You can assemble this dish several hours before baking. You can bake it a day or two ahead of serving; reheat it in a medium oven.
Nutritional information per serving: 245 calories; 2 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 4 milligrams cholesterol; 57 grams carbohydrates; 8 grams dietary fiber; 259 milligrams sodium (does not include salt to taste); 4 grams protein
Martha Rose Shulman is the author of "The Very Best of Recipes for Health."

Kiwi breakfast smoothie recipe

Kiwi breakfast smoothie. Photograph: Franck Allais and Ed Johns for the Guardian Almost all smoothie recipes include bananas, so this makes a nice change. Kiwi fruit contains even more vitamin C than oranges, so drink this to keep the winter bugs at bay. If you want something dairy-free, replace the yoghurt with a soy alternative. And to make this even more substantial, add some milk and a handful of oats.
Serves 2
2 kiwis
1 tsp linseeds
1 tsp sunflower seeds
125ml natural yoghurt
125ml orange juice
A large handful of berries of your choice

Peel the kiwis and wash the berries. Put all the ingredients into a smoothie maker or food processor, and blend together until smooth.

Super-healthy almond smoothie recipe

Super-healthy almond smoothie. Photograph: Franck Allais and Ed Johns for the Guardian

An ideal treat for when you're on a health kick. Serve it in tall ice-cream flutes and spoon it out like a pudding if you've been a bit heavy-handed with the seeds and it is too thick to drink. It is fantastically filling, and can be made a day in advance. You can add any seeds or fruit you fancy; try throwing in some linseeds, or using up any leftovers from your fruitbowl that are starting to go soft.
Serves 2
8 almonds, skins on
2 heaped tbsp oats
1 tbsp pumpkin seeds
1 tbsp sunflower seeds
1 medium banana
1 kiwi fruit
2 large handfuls of berries – whatever is in season
3 tbsp natural yoghurt
250ml rice milk, almond milk or soya milk
1. Put the almonds, oats and seeds into a blender or smoothie machine and whizz until fine.
2. Add the banana, kiwi, berries, yoghurt and milk. Blend until smooth.

Ginger and mint steeper recipe

Henry Dimbleby suggests a simple, quick and healthy combination of flavours for a reviving mid-morning pick-me-up

Ginger and mint steeper. Photograph: Franck Allais and Ed Johns for the Guardian This is really simple, but the combination of flavours provides a lovely mid-morning pick-me-up. To make it even healthier, drop in some echinacea, which has a reputation for warding off colds. Always make sure you submerge the mint completely in the water, otherwise it will go brown.
Serves 2
1 inch of fresh ginger
8 mint leaves
Peel the ginger and slice off 6 oval slices as thinly as you can into each mug. Add 4 mint leaves to each and cover with boiling water. Allow to steep for a couple of minutes.

Carrot, orange and ginger juice recipe

Henry Dimbleby's quick and healthy take on plain old orange juice is pepped up with sweet carrot juice

Carrot, orange and ginger juice. Photograph: Franck Allais and Ed Johns for the Guardian The best way to pep up a plain carton of orange juice. If you like a bit of veg in your juice but shy away from the earthy flavours that greens or beetroot bring, this is a great option. The carrot gives body and sweetness, but the orange adds zing and the ginger brings an underlying warm buzz. The acid in orange juice also stops the carrot from turning brown, so if you make more than you need and leave it in the fridge, it will still be a vibrant orange when you come to drink it. Serves 2 3 carrots 1 thumb-size piece of fresh ginger 500ml orange juice (preferably freshly squeezed) Peel the carrots and the ginger. Juice both in a juicing machine, then pour into a jug. Add the orange juice and mix well.

07-Nov

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