Plain old nummy Tabouli

Everything is in perfect alignment these days for a big bowl of tabouli, which has been lunch the past couple of days. It's hot and humid, and most of the ingredients are growing in my garden. The mint is from a forgotten patch in the fields where the dogs and I go walking every day - I need to make some mojitos while I'm at it. This is a pretty typical tabouli salad, kept chilled in the fridge, where the flavors seem to get better every day. Coming home for lunch today, all sweaty and sticky and nasty, all I could think about was this salad and some shade. Even Otter wanted to get in on this, and she's usually not a salad fan, unless the salad includes peanut butter dog biscuits. Which it usually doesn't.

Tabouli
1 cup bulgur wheat
1 medium cucumber, cut in bite-size chunks
2 Roma tomatoes, in more bite-size chunks
2 cups, more or less, coarsely chopped fresh parsley
2/3 cup fresh mint leaves
juice from half a lemon
1 tsp. cumin powder
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt

1. Boil one cup of water, remove from heat, and add 1 cup of bulgur wheat. The bulgur will soak up the water within 15 minutes or so, and become tender. Drain off any excess water, but at a one to one ratio, there shouldn't be much extra.

2. Allow the bulgur to cool completely, so it doesn't wilt the herb leaves. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, and refrigerate (or eat at room temperature, but the flavors improve with a little time). Serve cold, and add a little more oil or lemon juice if you like.