Guest post by Tina Kashian for Stabbed in the Baklava

First, I’d like to thank Mysteries with Character for inviting me as a guest today to celebrate the release of Stabbed in the Baklava. The second book in my Kebab Kitchen Mystery series features a Mediterranean restaurant at the Jersey Shore. I grew up in the restaurant business. My Armenian parents owned a restaurant not far from the shore for thirty years. I worked almost every job, from rolling silverware in napkins, to hostessing, to waitressing. So, setting my Kebab Kitchen mysteries at a Mediterranean restaurant at the Jersey Shore was a natural fit for me. I also love coming up with fun cozy titles that involve a pun on food!

Mediterranean food is also healthy. Friends often ask me for healthy recipes and the first one that comes to mind is tabbouleh. This parsley and bulgur salad is a favorite and a healthy alternative to any mayonnaise-based potato or macaroni salad.

So, I’d like to share my family’s recipe for tabbouleh salad. Summer is the time for fresh vegetables from the garden or a farmer’s stand I love my garden and I plant Jersey beefsteak tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, other vegetables and herbs. It’s flavorful, healthy, and delicious.

½ cup small bulgur (cracked wheat)

4 cups freshly chopped flat leaf parsley

1 cup chopped scallions or onions

2 cups chopped tomatoes

1/3 cup freshly chopped mint leaves or 2 Tbs dried crushed mint

Salt and pepper to taste

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

½ cup fresh lemon juice

Soak bulgur in a small bowl for a half hour, then drain and squeeze out all excess water. In a large bowl combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. Refrigerate and serve cold. Enjoy!

Thanks for having me!

Here’s a quick blurb of Stabbed in the Baklava:

Lucy Berberian has taken over her family’s Mediterranean restaurant on the Jersey Shore after an unsatisfying stint at a Philadelphia law firm. It’s great to be back in her old beach town, even if she’s turning into a seasoned sleuth.

Catering a high-society wedding should bring in some big income for Kebab Kitchen—and raise its profile too. But it’s not exactly good publicity when the best man winds up skewered like a shish kebab. Worse yet, Lucy’s ex, Azad—who’s the restaurant’s new head chef—is the prime suspect. But she doesn’t give a fig what the cops think. He may have killer looks, but he’s no murderer. She just needs to prove his innocence, before he has to go on the lamb . . .

Recipes included! “A delectable read.”

—Bestselling author Shelley Freydont

Tina Kashian is an attorney and a former mechanical engineer whose love of reading for pleasure helped her get through years of academia. She is the author of the Kebab Kitchen Mediterranean cozy mystery series. Tina spent her childhood summers at the Jersey shore building sandcastles, boogie boarding, and riding the boardwalk Ferris wheel. She also grew up in the restaurant business, as her Armenian parents owned a restaurant for thirty years. Tina still lives in New Jersey with her supportive husband and two young daughters. Please visit her website at www.tinakashian.com to join her newsletter, receive delicious recipes, enter contests, and more!