What's a Flexitarian?: Pear Garbanzo Tabbouleh

Servings

This recipe makes about 2 meals for me. I eat a lot - more than most adults, but less than most teenage boys. This is meant to be a complete meal. The beans and wheat have your protein and starch (beans have more protein, wheat has more starch), the oil gives you fats (which actually is something you need to make sure you have as non-processed food flexitarian), and the rest is delicious fruits and veggies.

Ingredients (And where I get them from)

1 cup water (from the tap - the environmentalist and human rights advocate in me is horrified by bottled water, and the civil engineer is amused that people waste their money buying it)
1 cup fine cracked wheat (from the store)
1 cup minced fresh parsley leaves (from the garden)
1/2 cup minced fresh mint leaves (garden)
1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion (from the dumpster behind Aldi's)
1 large ripe pear, cubed (Aldi's)

1 16-oz can garbanzo beans, drained. (store)
3 tablespoons olive oil (store)
3 tablespoons lemon juice, or to taste (store or Aldi's)
1 teaspoons sea salt (store)

Directions

Cook the cracked wheat as directed on package, probably for 10-20 min with a little more water than wheat.

Combine the chopped herbs, onion, pear, and garbanzo beans. Once the cracked wheat has cooled a little, add it too. Add the oil, lemon juice, and salt. Mix well. Add to wheat mixture and mix well.

If you leave it in the fridge for a while before eating, the flavors will blend more. On the other hand, if you eat it right away, you get to eat it right away. I usually just make enough to eat it at least twice.

Pictures

Step 1: Grow a bunch of parsley and mint (The parsley is the big, floppy, lobed leaves in the bottom center and the mint has the sharp, pointy leaves in pairs. It's popping up in all four corners [but not very close to the corner])