Tabuli Salad for Better Health

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

Choose a Gift for Your Kitchen Now!

Would you like to choose a gift for your kitchen this season? If you live in Panama and you know someone coming to Panama soon, maybe they would be happy to bring your gift with them when they come. Maybe you will be visiting friends or family during the holidays, and you could have your gift sent to them in time to bring it back to Panama with you.

Anyone on your gift-giving list would like any of these delightful, culinary gifts for these holidays. Just click on any item highlighted in blue for a complete description and follow the instructions to have your gift sent anywhere in the world.

1. Expresso Coffee Machine This is the best buy of all five gifts. I’ve listed it first because you can stop right here and order this fine DeLongi Retro pump-driven expresso machine, an original $210.00 value for only $81.75. It has a swivel-jet frother for creamy cappuccinos or lattes and all the features a connoisseur of fine coffee would appreciate.

2. Glass Covered Pedestal Cake Stand Every cook needs a 13″ pedestal cake plate with an 11″ high glass dome to showcase their treats. I recommend this one because the 2 pieces can be reversed to become a punch bowl. The price is right at only $23.73. If you have seen Martha Stewart making or presenting her cakes, you have seen her collection of cake stands. Try serving guests pies, sandwiches, cakes, cheeses or snacks on this stand and listen for their righcompliments!

3. Fondue Pot This Rival stainless steel fondue pot makes the perfect gift. Reduced to $29.99, it’s reasonable enough to send to friends you think would love cheese or chocolate fondue, who wouldn’t? A fondue pot is always fun at a party. My granddaughter loves to dip fruit into the melted chocolate. This 3-quart pot comes with 8 long, colorful forks.

4. Pizzelle Maker Papa Rico uses this Cuisinart pizzelle press to make his special dessert treats. Everyone loves eating them, especially when they are dusted with powdered sugar. I am thinking how good they would be with a light dusting of my Christmas Green Orange Dust mixed with sugar. Papa Rico uses his secret recipe for his batter, but here is mine. The reduced price is right at $37.83.

5. Pizza Pizzazz Pizza Oven Your family and friends would really enjoy having this unique kitchen appliance and it’s so much fun to use. The lucky recipient can easily prepare the exact pizza to their own tastes. For only $42.99, it will bring hours and hours of fun and delicious, “designer” pizzas. Don’t miss my blog with the best crust recipe to use in this oven.

Whenever a special occasion arises, remember these suggestions and your gift giving will be so easy. Click on the links highlighted in blue and go directly to Amazon to order your gifts today!

AND – - if you’re in Boquete, Panama or nearby, stop at LaReina Department Store, Sugar & Spice Bakery, Cacique Souvenir Shop, The Bookmark Bookshop, or Felipe Motta Wine Store and pick up copies of Boquete Gourmet Community Cookbook, the best gift of all!!

Thanks, Cora

Finally, a Saucier

As a self-proclaimed “gourmet cook”, wouldn’t you think I’d have a saucier?  Every “gourmet cook” has a fine collection of cooking utensils, kitchen equipment and serving items, but this one totally escaped me.   I’m hosting a “Guest Chef” series in my kitchen and one chef asked for this utensil to use in her class. Oh, no, I jumped on Google and got immediately educated into the style and art of cooking using a saucier, a cooking utensil that no French kitchen would be without.

On the Merriam Dictionary site, I read that Saucier is a town of about 1,300 folks in Mississippi, that out of 100 million people, 4,000 have the last name of Saucier, that the word “saucier” is used 20 time a day at Amazon.com and that ” saucier” rhymes with “glossier”.  However, the saucier I was looking for is last definition of the word, “a collectible specialty cooking piece with rounded sides that allow for easy, more efficient whisking”.  This was it, I just had to have a saucier.

Prices for a saucier on the internet run from Farberware $19.99 to AllClad $115.00o to LeCruset in 8 colors for $159.95, but to get one sent to Panama just didn’t seem necessary, I was sure that I could find one here.

The quest to find a saucier began in Boquete.  Since I never knew a saucier existed, it’s possible that our local department store La Reina would have one.  But no, their pots and pans came only in sets and none included a saucier.  The next step was to drive 45 minutes south to David, the capitol city of Chiriqui Province.  The drive went quickly and soon I was searching my favorite kitchen store, Mundial Rawsa, located on the main street leading into downtown David.

The owner, Ms. Tedman, showed me 10 different styles of pots and pans, she seemed to know what I wanted but couldn’t interest me in anything similar.  It had to be a saucier, nothing else would do.  I did find a real Wilton candy thermometer there, a real important find for a “gourmet cook” who doesn’t have a candy thermometer.

My last resort was ERA, Panama’s only commercial kitchen supply store west of Panama City.  Yes, they had a 1 quart, 18-10 stainless steel, “professional” saucier, as pictured here.  The price was $41.00; it gleams, it has a thick bottom and it just feels good.  Keep checking TBG for some good-tasting recipes I make in my new saucier.