a fabulous tabouli, home-cooking to combat depression, and more surprises

Maybe you’ve tried the famed mid-east’s tabouli from either your supermarket or your fave fast-food eastern take-out. In both cases, you’ve been cheated. Your taste buds deserve to experience the real thing prepared right. That includes knowing its secret ingredients and leaving out any detracting additions.

So, here’s a tabouli recipe to die for—but don’t, please! After you’ve tasted this one, you’ll definitely want to keep living and eating great made-at-home foods that hold no comparison to super-market or food chain variations. I promise.

And seriously, if dying is something you long for, (hey, depression: we’ve all been there at one time or another) I realize eating great food won’t fix that. But sometimes placing our minds on something creative brings its own rewards and helps centre us. And who knows, when you find that one creative hobby that works for you? It can do wonders in keeping you ahead of those black clouds—beyond their reach. Eventually, you’ll outrun them and crush them. I promise that, too. You will.

Try this recipe if you’re a salad lover, or even if salads are just “meh” for you. This one won’t be. After you’ve read it through we’ll catch up at the end with some final thoughts on creativity, cooking, and those dogged, dark thoughts.

follow these steps for the basic salad preparation

now for the incredible dressing that makes the salad come alive

Now you’re ready to bring out the prepared salad from the fridge. Remove as much as needed for your meal and any others joining in. Stir in enough dressing to make the mixture juicy. Eat with very fresh pita bread. In fact, this salad does great wrapped in a single-side of thin pita.

Made right, this salad is very addictive. Don’t leave out the mint or the cinnamon! They provide the magic flavour touches. Don’t add any extra ingredients (nuts, feta, olives, pomegranate seeds etc). Let your tastebuds get used to this real treasure before you branch out and add other things to it. Then, at least you know what you’re comparing it to. Do make often! Do find the freshest and best quality ingredients you possibly can. Your taste buds will thank you.

So, did great “at home” cooking dissolve or deal with my depression when it visited my life? Honestly, that wasn’t the creative hobby that kept my head above water at that time. My faith did that. That and availing myself of some great church contacts. Who’d have thought, eh? But another family member found music pursuits gave meaning and colour to her life when she badly needed those. And later on, fabulous home-cooking did become her delight and also something of her ongoing therapeutic practice, too. She often shares her home-cooked meals with others now, multiplying the satisfaction and love instead of keeping it all to herself. That’s another benefit of learning to prepare even a few tasty items from scratch: you can bless others.

You may not be up to hosting others at this time if you’re suffering from dark days, but one day you will. And others will delight in your culinary accomplishments and benefit from your patient work at creating tasty outcomes.

That reminds me: I once shared a fabulous, love-designed meal with someone who actually broke down and cried – a full-grown adult, crying – because of the out-of-the-way kindness his host showered on him. She had designed a well-thought-out meal, beautifully cooked and prepared it, and then all fancy-like presented it. It was like eating in a five-star restaurant without getting a big bill at the end. And it was just what this guest needed at a time when others didn’t realize the tough times he was facing. Long, hard, dark-mood times.

So, never underestimate the power of a great meal, kindly shared. And a small word of advice if I may? If you haven’t tried church as depression therapy, give it a try. You might be surprised at what you discover. The above host and her overwhelmed guest? That happened because of a church connection.

Naomi J loves it when food, family, and friends come together. And all the moreso when faith is added into the mix. Faith in the Big Guy upstairs who designed and planned all those great things in the first place. Gotta’ love Him! (And, she does).