Tabbouleh, Tabouleh, Tabouli
Happy Friday! This tabbouleh salad makes me happy for sure. It is bright, delicious and a fun side for a spring meal. It’s super easy to make, just takes a little advance planning.
While I am mostly Cuban, I’m an 1/8 Lebanese (that counts right?) - so I credit my grandmother with teaching me how to make this. She taught my mom and so forth. Most tabboulehs I’ve ordered at restaurants are way too heavy on the parsley which I think are too harsh tasting. In my version (my family version) I tend to increase the bulgur to parsley ratio making it more appealing and delicious!
Bulgur is a grain. That’s it. Use about 1/2 cup dried.
Rinse and soak the bulgur in water overnight. The water should be about an inch above the grain. This will soften the bulgur.
The bulgur the next day. It increases a tremendous amount, so you only need a small amount to start.
3 chopped green onions (only 2 pictured here!).
Even though the cucumber is technically seedless, I still like to scoop out the middle. It keeps the salad from getting too watery.
Everything (tomatoes, cucumber, parsley, and green onion) should be finely diced!
Combine all of the veggies and the bulgur. Add oil, lemon juice, and salt and mix. This salad actually tastes better the second day and sometimes needs a little more oil, lemon, salt (because the bulgur soaks it up), so make adjustments based on personal preference.
TABBOULEH
Serves 4 sides
Ingredients
1/2 cup dried bulgur (1 1/2 cups soaked)
1 english cucumber, seeded and diced
2 roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/4 cup flat leaf parsely, minced
4 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbs fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 tsp coarse salt
Preparation:
1. Rinse dried bulgur and place in bowl. Add enough water to bowl to cover the bulgur by 1 inch. Soak overnight.
2. Using a mess strainer, strain water from bulgur, lightly pressing on bulgur to release excess water.
3. Combined diced vegetables and bulgur in bowl. Add olive oil, lemon juice, and salt and mix. Adjust condiments to taste.
