The USDA’s new dietary guidelines have upped your daily fruit and vegetable requirements to five to 13 servings (depending on daily calorie intake). How to cram ’em all into 24 hours? Try this veggie-vital recipe from Betty Deepe, president of food services at New York City’s kick-ass AIDS service organization Housing Works. It packs veggies—with a delicious Middle Eastern flavor.
Tabouleh With Oven-Roasted Vegetables Serves six
1) Boil 3/4 cup water. Add 1/2 cup bulger wheat (a.k.a. cracked wheat), 1/2 teaspoon salt and a pinch of black pepper. Return to a boil, remove from heat and let sit, covered tightly, for 15 minutes.
2) In a bowl, mix 1 cup chopped parsley, 1/3 cup sliced scallions, 2 tablespoons chopped mint (optional), 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Stir this into the bulger, fluffing with a fork.
3) Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cut 2 small zucchini into 1/2-inch discs, 1 large eggplant into 1/2-inch cubes, 4 plum tomatoes into quarters (lengthwise) and 1 large red onion into 1/4-inch-thick slices.
4) Place all vegetables except tomatoes in a roasting pan and drizzle them with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast 10 minutes, then add tomatoes, stir and cook another 15 minutes (until the eggplant is tender).
5) In a bowl, mix together 3/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup red-wine vinegar, 3 tablespoons ground cumin, 1/2 tablespoon ground coriander and salt and pepper to taste.
6) Spread the tabouleh on a platter and make a small valley in the middle. Toss the roasted veggies with the oil-and-vinegar mixture and place them in that valley. Then squeeze the juice of 1 fresh lime over the dish for zing.
