Tabbouleh is somehow often an afterthought of a salad when cooking Middle Eastern food. You’re probably going to grill some meat, maybe make a couple of dips, and oh wait….you probably need a salad. Tabbouleh is the common choice, and that’s where it’s reputation has put it. Tabbouleh however, can hold up on it’s own, and rightfully so.
What’s not to like, a salad full of fresh herbs, easy to make, and it actually gets better starting on day 2! It’s packed with acid and just a bit of oil, and a slight crunch from the bulgur and chopped cucumbers. Tabbouleh can be the star of the meal, or even the meal itself. Toss in some grilled chicken, or leftover steak, or any protein that would commonly be seen in other salads, and make it the main course.
Pictured above, Tabbouleh is a great option as a side salad in what’s called a “Mezze”, which is an assortment of small dishes eaten as an appetizer or the meal itself. I included it above in a savory Middle Eastern inspired Dutch Baby with roasted red peppers, hummus, grilled katfa kabobs and some baba ganoush.
Tabbouleh
Ingredients
- 2 bunches curly parsley stemmed and chopped
- 1 handful mint stemmed and chopped
- 2 green onion chopped
- 1 cucumber peeled, seeded and chopped into 1/4 inch chunks
- 1 medium sized tomato chopped
- 1/2 cup bulgur
- 1/4 cup lemon juice squeeze fresh if available
- 1/4 cup olive oil extra virgin
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Remove stems from the bunches of parsley. It’s easiest if you chop off the stems while they’re still being held together in a bunch. Then chop the parsley fine and place in a large bowl. Chop the mint and green onion and add to the parsley. Peel and seed the cucumber, then chop it into ¼ inch chunks. Dice the tomato. Combine all of the above ingredients in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper and set the bowl aside.
- Place the ¼ cup of bulgur in a separate bowl and cover with boiling water. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and allow it to rest for 20minutes. After the rest, drain the bulgur through a fine mesh strainer until no more water dribbles out. Once the water stops draining from the bulgur, add it to your herb mix.
- To the large bowl containing all of the non-liquid ingredients, add the lemon juice and the olive oil and stir to combine well. Place in the refrigerator and let it sit for a couple of hours. Tabbouleh is notorious for getting better after a couple of hours and even after a couple of days.
