Middle Eastern cuisine hits the spot in the summer, with grilled meats, flatbreads and salads of legumes, grains and vegetables, washed down with mint tea or lemonade.
Found on the appetizer menu at your favorite kebab place, ful medames, a fava bean dish, is so ubiquitous in the Mideast that each country has its own variation.
In Egypt, ful medames is served all day — for breakfast with a fried egg and pita bread. In Syria and Lebanon, they eat it with yogurt or feta cheese, olives and cucumbers.
But fava beans — fresh, dried or canned — can be hard to find in Colorado supermarkets.
These broad beans, which ripen from green to brown, are easy to grow, according to Broomfield-based Botanical Interests.
Plant the Windsor variety like peas, as early as possible, and stake them if they get too tall.
In tabbouleh, the fresh tastes of Italian flat-leaf parsley and mint jump to the fore. A biennial, parsley grows better the first year, so plant a handful of seeds every spring. Mint, on the other hand, will take over your yard. Tame its wandering ways in a container.
Super Sweet 100, an indeterminate cherry tomato, will reward gardeners with buckets of little tomatoes if given room to sprawl. Choose the dwarf Tumbler variety for a container or smaller space.
The Armenian Burpless cucumber, light green and ridged, grows up to 36 inches long. Stake the vines to a trellis as they grow, advise the gardeners at CSU.
Ful Medames
From . Serves 4-6.
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds dried fava beans or broad beans
2 crushed garlic cloves
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin
Directions
Soak dried beans overnight. Drain and cover with fresh water in large saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer on low for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until beans are tender.
Drain and place in medium bowl. Add remaining ingredients. Beans can be mashed together, or left whole and gently mixed.
Tabbouleh
From “Barefoot Contessa Parties!” by Ina Garten (Clarkson Potter, $35). Serves 8.
Ingredients
1 cup bulghur wheat
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
1/4 cup good olive oil
3 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 cup minced scallions, white and green parts (1 bunch)
1 cup chopped fresh mint leaves (1 bunch)
1 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley (1 bunch)
1 cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and medium-diced
2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Place bulghur in a large bowl, pour in water, and add lemon juice, olive oil, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Stir, then allow to stand at room temperature for about 1 hour.
Add scallions, mint, parsley, cucumber, tomatoes, 2 teaspoons salt and pepper; mix well. Season to taste, cover and refrigerate. The flavor will improve if the tabbouleh sits for a few hours.
