Tabbouleh

This post has been a long time coming. I will be filling in back logged food adventures as well as going forward so keep your eye pealed for entries all the way back to Halloween and posting in the present.

I discovered this delightful, fresh meal back in March when we were on the South Beach Diet and were searching for healthy recipes. I love to make this dish in the summer because it requires no cooking. When is over 100 degrees, I hate making anything that requires a long cook time or use of the over. The tabbouleh recipe is from what is now one of our go to cook books; Mad Hungry by Lucinda Scala Quinn

Tabbouleh is a traditional Arabic salad. It is made using bulgar wheat, parsley, mint, and olive oil.Bulgar wheat is a really hearty grain that has not been processed very much. In order to prepare it for the salad you first rinse the wheat in cold water and then soak the wheat in cold water for 20 minutes.

Then you begin chopping herbs... and a lot of them. The recipe calls for two cups of curly parsley and a half cup of mint. Luckily I had gotten a rolling herb mincer for Christmas and this was a great time to use it. You simply remove the herbs from their stems and then roll this multi-bladed contraption over the herb one direction and then the other and it cuts them into tiny pieces. Even with this awesome herb destroying machine it still took me 20 minutes to wash the parsley, pick off each leaf, and run the herb mincer over them. I know it would have taken me at least twice a long if I did not have my newest kitchen gadget!



Traditionally you add in tomatoes, green onions and cucumbers to the herbs and wheat. The first time I made this dish I kept the tomatoes in to see what the flavor and texture of the dish would be like, even though Brian and I are not big tomato fans. I did not want to take an ingredient out before trying it. Since the tomatoes did not blow we away or feel significant to the dish I left them out this go around and found I enjoyed the dish much better.

You finish off the tabbouleh with a dressing made of lemon juice, olive oil and salt. We serve the tabbouleh in whole wheat pitas but it can also be served as a salad. I love the flavor of this dish. It is quiet strong with all the fresh herbs lemon juice and green onions. It make a great light dinner or healthy lunch.I highly recommend.