Salmon and Souvlaki

I thought I’d share this recipe with you all.  It’s a very easy way to make meatless tacos.  In fact, Nik and I have decided that we liked these so well that we’re not going to waste our ground meat on tacos anymore.  We’ll use that for hamburgers and other things where you have to have meat.  So tacos in our house will probably be bulgar tacos from now on!

Bulgar Tacos

(originating with Nik’s co-worker but heavily modified by me)

 2 C dried bulgar wheat

Follow the directions on the bag to cook the bulgar completely.  Do not use the cold soak method (like for tabouleh).

 While bulgar is cooking, prepare the seasoning:

 1 ½ T garlic powder

1 T chili powder

1 tsp. cumin powder

1 tsp. curry powder

2 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. dried oregano

½ tsp red pepper flakes (to taste)

Premeasure all the spices into a bowl. (It’s important to have them all measured beforehand.)

 1/4 C olive or vegetable oil (yes, it’s a lot of oil – use all of it.)

Heat the oil in a small pan until quite hot.  Add all the spices at once and stir frequently until the spices are very fragrant.  Turn off the heat.

1/3 C soy sauce

2 T lemon juice

Add to the spice mixture and mix well.  Pour the spices into the cooked bulgar and stir well until evenly distributed.

 If not serving immediately, spread out on cookie sheets to cool and dry so it doesn’t turn into one big clump.

 Serve with grated cheese, sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes, and tortillas. Very good!

P.S. We made a huge batch of this for a potluck that we hosted at our house in June.  It was a crowd pleaser!

Tonight, we have some friends from church coming over for dinner and I’m making leek, asparagus, and garlic scape quiche.  I’m discovering that quiche is a good (and delicious!) way to use up whatever vegetables might be hanging out in the fridge.  The Simply In Season cookbook suggested using grated potatoes, lightly oiled (3 C of potatoes and 3 T oil for a pie pan) and slightly prebaked as a crust and we really like that crust.

The asparagus in the quiche is our last asparagus for the year.  We first bought it for our Easter brunch and so have been eating it pretty heavily for the last 2 months.  Asparagus is delicious, I love it, and frankly, I’m tired of it.  I’m glad there’s no more.  That’s the beauty of seasonal eating – you’re so glad to see something come and you’re glad to see it leave too!  I buy asparagus from the same man every year.  I think his name is Ed but I call him “my asparagus farmer”.  He calls me “my Alaska girl”.  He went to AK on a cruise a long time ago and delights to tell me everything he knows about Alaska!  Anyway, our rule is that we buy asparagus from him and when he doesn’t have it anymore, we’re done.  Last week, his sign said, “Last week for asparagus.”  And so we’re done.

Hey!  Tomatoes and cucumbers!  We’re ready for you!!