A while back, my favorite Michigander, Khalto Samah, dropped off some of her homemade tabbouleh and I was absolutely floored! It was the lightest, freshest tabbouleh that I have ever tasted.
It wasn’t before long that I was asking for her recipe and thankfully she was kind enough to share it with me and has allowed me to share it with you all.
The ingredients in this tabbouleh are fresh and simple. And many of you may already have the ingredients in your kitchen. Just whip out a big fat cutting board and chop away!
Serves 4-5 people *I like to make a lot of tabbouleh. I leave dressing on the side and leave it in a sealed container so that I can enjoy the salad over the course of a few days.
Ingredients:
1/4 cup fine bulgur (Check out a local middle eastern store or speciality food store near you)
2 bunches flat leaf parsley, chopped super fine
2 bunches curly parsley, chopped super fine (this parsley gives more volume to the salad)
3 tomato exteriors, chopped finely
1 large lemon skin, chopped finely
Juice of 2 lemons (one of the lemons can be from the lemon you peeled the skin off of)
Dressing:
Extra virgin olive oil, to taste
lemon juice, to taste
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
Step 1: Pour the bulgur into a glass bowl and squeeze the juice of two lemons over it. Allow the bulgur to soak in the lemon juice for at least 30-40 minutes or until it is soft. Give it a taste test as time passes. No harm in that 🙂
Step 2: Chop up the parsley so that it is SUPER fine. Keep chopping…and even when you think you’ve done enough, chop some more. The lazy way to do this step is just pop it in a food processor. But I promise it’s much better when done by hand.
Step 3: Using a sharp knife, I peel the outer layer off of of the lemon…kind of like you’re peeling an orange. Basically what you want is the yellow part of the lemon – the zest. Chop that up extra fine as well.
Step 4: Using a sharp knife, peel off the outer layer of the tomato and chop it up into very fine pieces. The reason you don’t want to use the whole tomato is because it will make the salad very watery. You only the parts of the tomato that are basically attached to the skin and have no seeds at all.
Step 5: Pour the bulgur, tomatoes and lemon into the bowl of parsley and stir.
Step 5: Combine the dressing ingredients into a separate bowl. I would say begin with the juice of one lemon, a pinch of salt and pepper, and a tablespoon of olive oil. And then work with the dressing until you have your desired taste and consistency. If you plan on eating the tabbouleh later, set this dressing aside. If you’re ready to devour your salad now, just add on the dressing and enjoy.
Sahtain!