φρέσκος

by

i'm sorry
i disappeared into a busy frenzy.
i found myself
swimming in a sea of work
and then i treated myself
to a trip down south.
but i'm back
and i need to get my
healthy eating
back
on 
track.
stat.
when i splurge
on a week or more of 
fried
chicken,
okra,
cube steak
eating,
i come home
and make myself
a tub of easy to grab 
salad.

here we go.
my favorite,
easy to grab,
always satisfying,
light and clean
salad...


tabouli
1 1/2 cup fresh curly parsley (1 whole bunch), finely chopped
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
1/4 of 1 cucumber
1/2 of 1 roma tomato
1/4 of 1 small red onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup pepperocinis, finely chopped

1/2 cup quinoa
1 cup water
1 sprig of mint

3 tbs. olive oil
juice from 1 1/2 lemons
ground pepper to taste

in a medium size pan, bring your water to boil with quinoa and a mint sprig (you don't NEED the mint in there, but i like the flavor it gives the quinoa, plus if someone is watching, it makes you look super fancy). once you reach a boil, drop the heat, cover the pan and simmer for about ten minutes. when its done cooking, let it sit for another five minutes, covered, over no fire.. then place into a bowl and let it cool in your fridge or on the counter. now your real skills are going to come in, now we start chopping the shit out of pretty much everything. this is the time where i play some gangster rap and take my frustration out on vegetables (i'm not crazy). take your bunch of parsley and get to chopping; i like mine pretty finely chopped, so i go hard for a solid five minutes at this thing. do the same to the mint. when they're both pretty much dead, toss them into a bowl and grab your lemons and give them a hard roll to loosen them up and release the juice. squeeze the juice from one and a half lemons, or more if you like the tartness, into your chopped parsley and mint. grab your onion, make sure to chop it into small pieces or you'll get bites that taste slightly spicier than others. then take the cucumber and slice it into strips, dice those strips slightly thicker so we get a nice crunch. now, i'm not a huge fan of tomatoes, but i can handle them in this because the lemon kicks ass and makes everything taste like heaven. take your tomato, slice it into fourths and cut out the center and toss it out. then dice whats left and toss it in. we are coming to the end of this fun little journey.. grab some pepperocinis out of the jar, slice them into strips, toss them in. NOW, take your quinoa and lightly fluff it into the masterpiece. drizzle on that olive oil, grind that pepper... holy shit. it's done. it's time. eat it. if you have patience, it tastes better the longer it melds together, but i don't. i have no patience. so i eat it with a fork, with a pita chip, i eat it on a tuna sandwich, and i don't waste time.

roll dem lemons gurl! excuse my veiny hands
i am literally eating this while typing.
i don't know if its still considered 
healthy if you eat
a whole gallon of it
in one sitting.

fuck itttttttt.

"φρέσκος"
greek
"fresh"