Tabouleh

Oh, how I love Lebanese food. Now there's a culture that knows how to treat its vegetarians.

Dish: Tabouli
Categories: Salads, Lebanese
Yield: 3 bunches
Ingredients:

• 1/3 c Crushed wheat (burghui)
• 2 c Water
• 1/4 c Fresh mint (chopped) or 2 -tbs dry
• 4 Green onions, with ends
• 2 lg Tomatoes (diced small)
• 1 1/2 ts Salt
• 1/4 ts Pepper
• 1/3 c Lemon juice (or to taste)
• 1/4 c Olive oil or vegetable oil

Instructions:

1. Wash parsley well, drain and shake out excess moisture.
2. Soak crushed wheat in water in a large mixing bowl for 2 minutes. Drain well. Set aside while preparing other ingredients.
3. Remove stems from parsley and discard. Chop parsley very fine (3 bunches should equal about 5 cups). Add to wheat.
4. Chop onions fine and add to mixture along with remaining ingredients.
5. If not served immediately, do not add tomatoes and onions until just before serving. Toss well.
6. Serve with Romaine lettuce leaves. Tear leaves into bite sized pieces and use to scoup up salad for eating.

A dish that is popular in Mediterranean cuisine, often described as "parsley and mint salad". Tabbouleh (Americanized spelling "taboulli") can be eaten in many forms: salad, sandwich, appetizer, or topping to name a few. It is commonly served on lettuce, cabbage, or grape leaves.

Here is a taboulleh recipe to try:

• 1 cup burghul (crushed wheat)
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 1/2 cups chopped parsley
• 3/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped mint
• 1 cup lemon juice
• Salt and pepper to taste

Soak burghul one hour in water, drain. Mix burghul, onions, salt and pepper, and crush mixture with fingers. Add parsley, mint, oil, lemon juice, more salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly, adding more lemon juice and salt for flavor.

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.