Boquete Gourmet Host Chef, Peace Farideh Azad brought a totally different idea of food preparation to our little mountain town in Panama, “Combining Foods for Better Health”. Participants learned unique, “plant-based” cooking techniques, with emphasis on properly combining ingredients to promote optimum health and wellness.

There are many charts that show how certain foods can be combined for better digestion. Peace advocates having certain fresh fruits prior to eating your meals. For instance, papaya stimulates your digestive fluids, so Peace prepared dishes of papaya for everyone to enjoy just before serving her Tabuli Salad.

In the Middle East, Tabuli, also spelled Tabouleh, is a fresh vegetable salad with the green ingredients dominating. The dish’s global popularity has led to new interpretations and regional modifications such as the use of couscous or quinoa in place of bulgur, which is traditional.

PEACE’S TABULI SALAD

1 package quinoa, prepared as directed
2 large bunches parsley, finely chopped
2 spring onions, sliced thinly
2 pounds tomatoes, diced
1 cucumber, finely diced
10 fresh limes, juiced
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt to taste, sea salt is preferred if possible

After the vegetables were carefully prepared, each was placed in their separate dish, mis en place style. It was easy for Peace to combine the ingredients in a large bowl, toss them with flare, and serve garnished with fresh sprigs of mint.

During the cooking process, Peace wanted to simmer the quinoa and water very slowly until it became tender. This is almost impossible to do with the gas-top burners she was using. The lowest setting was just too hot, which is often the case with my burners.

Because this is a common concern with most cooks in Boquete (our gas is bottled), a friend discovered a new gadget to solve this problem, the “Simmer Mat”. This clever device was invented in New Zealand, where cooks must have the same problem as we have in Boquete. 

Carol brought a mat back from the states for me to try, and I love it. The cast iron heat diffuser works perfectly to spread the heat to ensure long slow cooking.

If you’d like to order a Simmer Mat from Amazon, click here, it’s only $14.95.

Peace completed her menu by making a delicious Plant-Based Soup using quinoa, Vegetable Curry with yucca, and two versions of Brown Rice. No dessert was needed following the lunch, because at the end of the afternoon everyone agreed they felt full of energy from the well-combined meal they enjoyed during the class.

The Tabuli Salad was definitely the highlight of the class, as there were no salad leftovers at all!

Thanks to all the “souz-chefs” for making each ingredient so beautiful, as you can see. Thanks to Peace for showing us another way to improve our overall health and well-being, and in such a delightful manner!

Salud!
Cora