A typical middle-Eastern salad with the ancient grain bulgur, lemon, lots of fresh parsley and mint and juicy tomatoes. Inspired by the tradition, I’ve changed this salad adding chickpeas for a balanced meal. This salad is the perfect quick lunch or appetizer to show off with your friends.
Tabbouleh is derived from the Arabic word ‘taabil’ that means seasoning. The salad comes from the beautiful mountains of Syria and Lebanon. These lands were rich in fresh herbs that are definitely the stars of the show in this salad.
In Italy we use a lot of herbs but it’s very rare that they take the centre stage and are so abundant in a dish. This salad is to me a complete novelty, it bursts with flavours and keeps well the day after too (if there will be anything left).
Add some pomegranate if you are feeling fancy and omit the chickpeas if you want a more traditional salad.
Get ready to fall in love with a dish that will quickly become a staple recipe in your kitchen.
Tabbouleh
Course: Mains, SidesDifficulty: Easy4
servings30
minutesA typical middle-Eastern salad with the ancient grain bulgur, lemon, lots of fresh parsley and mint and juicy tomatoes. Inspired by the tradition, I’ve changed this salad adding chickpeas for a balanced meal. This salad is the perfect quick lunch or appetizer to show off with your friends.
Ingredients
100 g bulgur
200 g tomatoes (around 3 medium tomatoes)
1/2 a large cucumber
1/2 tsp sea salt
100 g flat leaf parsley
50 g fresh mint
1/2 red onion
400 g chickpeas
- Seasoning
4 tbsp lemon juice
4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp salt
Method
- Cook the bulgur following the package directions. Set aside to cool.
- Dice the tomatoes and cucumber and let them rest in a bowl with half a teaspoon of fine sea salt for 10 minutes. Strain the liquid and set the cucumber and tomatoes aside. This step is essential, otherwise your tabbouleh will be too watery and the taste of the oil and lemon will get diluted.
- Chop the parsley and mint in a food processor.
- Chop the onion finely
- Roughly chop the chickpeas (optional)
- Add the cooled bulgur to a big bowl and all the veggies in. Season with oil, lemon juice and half teaspoon of salt. Mix the salad with two big wooden spoons and taste. Feel free to adjust the oil, lemon. or salt depending on your taste buds!
- Let the salad rest for 10 minutes before serving.
