fortification fridays - parsley mint salad and lemony chicken soup with rice

When life gives you a Friday morning wakeup call by mysteriously breaking both your toaster and your coffeemaker overnight, make things with lemons. That's what I always say. Actually, I curse, using the f-, s-, d- and G-d words in a syntax-defying way, moan "my appliances, why hast thou forsaken me?" and shake my fist at the injustice of it all.

Then I put my bagel in the oven, mop up the coffee on the countertop, and make things with lemons. A green, vibrant herb salad and a suave, creamy lemony chicken rice soup are just what a cold day in February needs.

Lemony Chicken Soup with Rice

In February it will be
My snowman's anniversary
With cake for him and soup for me!
Happy once, happy twice
Happy chicken soup with rice!
--Carole King, "Chicken Soup with Rice"

This is my version of avgolemono, the Greek chicken soup with rice, egg, and lemon.

Kitchen needs: one stove burner.
Serves 4.

6 c. chicken stock, preferably homemade*
1/2 c. basmati rice
3 eggs, beaten
1 lemon
white pepper and salt to taste

Add raw rice, the juice of 1/2 lemon, salt and white pepper to the stock. Simmer the rice in the chicken stock until it is tender and swollen, breaking down just a bit to add thickness to the soup. When rice is cooked, stir the soup so it forms a whirpool in the center, then add eggs in stream. Keep stirring until the eggs form long strands that look pretty and swirly. Add the rest of the lemon juice just before serving. Adjust seasonings. Garnish with parsley or a tiny bit of parsley mint salad.

* This is easier than you might think. Seriously. All you need to do, at the bare minimum, is save the carcass from a roast chicken -- even one of those supermarket ones -- and throw it in your slow cooker with a quartered onion, a carrot and a celery stalk. Add water to about 2/3 full, and cook on low all day. Use right away or freeze in tupperware in 2-cup blocks. You should skim the fat off the top before using or freezing.

Parsley Mint Salad

This is my version of tabbouleh, the ubiquitous Middle Eastern salad that takes horrific forms when a box mix is involved. This is a salad that simply won't work with processed ingredients. Cookbook wisdom says that fresh American versions use too much bulgar wheat and not enough tomatoes. The biggest problem I find is that the bulgar tends to get soggy with liquids if it isn't drained properly. Whatever your preferred proportions are, you should focus on the making the bulgar as dry as possible.

Winter tomatoes, of course, are another problem. You need tomatoey juice to balance the lemon. I sometimes cheat and add a few spoonsful of my home-canned pure tomato sauce, which is composed solely of Purple Cherokee and Roma tomatoes from my garden. Another option is to slow roast yucky winter romas at a very low temperature with some olive oil and salt for, oh, three or four hours. And yet another is what I recommend here, salting and chopping little sweet cherry tomatoes.

Serves 6-8 as side dish.
Kitchen needs: something to boil water and a sharp knife.

2 medium bunches parsley, soaked in several changes of cold water in a bowl to clean of any sand
1 bunch spearmint (at least 1/4 cup of chopped leaves)
1 cup medium coarse (#3) bulgar wheat
1/4 small white onion, chopped finely and soaked in cold water to take away some sting, or 5-6 scallions, chopped
1 small green pepper, chopped
2 cups of the best cherry tomatoes you can find, chopped in quarters
1 juicy lemon
1/2 cup fruity extra virgin olive oil

Set aside several things: place bulgar in a bowl, and boil enough water to cover bulgar completely. Add boiling water and set aside for about 10 minutes, or until tooth-tender. Do not oversoak. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of salt on the tomatoes and set them aside. Add chopped white onions to cold water and set them aside.

Proceed with the draining of the bulgar, by any means necessary. I use a small, fine colander and press against the bulgar with paper towels. The best way might be to drain and then wring dry in a clean towel or cheesecloth. You really want it dry.

Your perfectly dry bulgar should be mixed with the tomatoes and their juice and the juice from 1/2 a lemon. Set aside for 30 minutes or so to let juices soak into bulgar. Now do you see why the water should be removed? Tasty juicy goodness.

While the bulgar is soaking in the juices, finely chop the parsley and the mint with a very sharp knife and a light hand to avoid bruising the herbs. Place in large bowl with the onion (drained) and green pepper.

Combine the bulgar with the parsley. The obsessive should squeeze the bulgar/tomato mix lightly and remove excess liquid with paper towels before combining with the rest of the salad. Add the rest of the lemon juice, olive oil and salt to taste. You may find you need more lemon or oil.

This salad tastes better if allowed to rest in the refrigerator for a few hours. Serve with romaine lettuce leaves for scooping and/or pieces of pita bread.