Tabouli with Orange

I usually make tabouli with lemon. The way I learned to make tabouli was from Mollie Katzen, author of the first Moosewood Cookbook. But last week it was Friday afternoon, and I discovered I had no lemon. But I did have an orange! And a beautiful bunch of curly parsley. I was also in the mood for ginger instead of garlic. Thus a new recipe is born.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup bulghur wheat
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil (or enough to coat)
• fresh parsley and/or fresh mint
• 1 orange
• 1 tsp. chopped ginger root
• optional but highly recommended: chopped fresh tomato, chopped fresh cucumber
• optional if you like: chopped radish, chopped sweet onion, chopped carrot

Put the bulghur wheat in a bowl. Add a pinch of salt (not too much). Boil water in a kettle. When the water boils, pour 1 cup over the bulghur wheat. Cover the bowl with a pot lid. Leave it for about twenty minutes. Then add the olive oil, enough to coat the grains but not too much. Add the chopped ginger root. Squeeze the orange juice into the bowl. Stir. I tried adding the orange rind, too, but that was too bitter. Not a good part of this experiment. You can add the chopped parsley now, or wait until serving time. Add all the other vegetables before serving time. I didn’t have a fresh tomato, so I didn’t add other vegetables, but tabouli is so delicious when you do have the fresh vegetables, too. If not yet tomato season, add lots of parsley or mint. Refrigerate before serving. One usually has to wait a day for the bulghur wheat to soften. Enjoy! Serve at room temperature.