Tabouleh is a
Lebanese salad. I have eaten at least 5 variations on it, and I'll mention some variations briefly, but I will node
my mother's recipe, because it is the one I make, and the only one I really like.
It is important to remember that the main ingredient in tabouleh is parsley. Many people, and even restaurants seem to think that burgul (bulgur wheat) is the main ingredient, and parsley is just a decoration. That is why their tabouleh tastes like crap.
Ingredients
-
1/4 cup (or even less) bulgur wheat
- A big bunch of parsley (you can never have too much, but you can have too little. Make sure it's a BIG bunch.)
- 1 medium tomato
- An insane amount of lemon juice (fresh) - by insane I mean about 1/3 - 1/2 cup
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Mint (About 1/3 the amount of parsley)
- 1/3 cup chopped green onion
- A cucumber
The ingredients in
italics are optional. Mint is interesting, and is a cute variation, but I usually avoid it. Try it, see how you like it. I have never put cucumber in my tabouleh. It's so not in
the spirit of tabouleh. But I have seen it done, so I'm mentioning it. Many restaurants put onions in their tabouleh, but I have only done so once. It's okay. It really depends on what you're trying to get across in your salad. I try to get across:
this is a parsley salad. Everything else: go away. For an
authentic tasting tabouleh, I suggest you do the same.
Preparation
Soak the bulgur wheat in warm water for
half an hour. (I use warm water, and soak for about half an hour. Some people use boiling water. Some use cold water and soak for longer). The bulgur wheat has to be
soft. Drain away any
excess water.
Chop the parsley and the mint (if you're using mint). Don't chop them too finely. Thinly dice the tomato, (and cucumber and onions). Mix everything together in a big bowl. Don't add too much olive oil. The prominent tastes should be the parsley and the lemon. Also, if you add too little salt, the tabouleh will seriously suck.
Tabouleh should be served with Middle Eastern foods, like kebabs, tehina and hummus.