Arabic culture and food have always been a part of my everyday life. Many of you have heard of places that sell kabab or falafel in Middle Eastern restaurants, and this salad is something that you can always pair with any of these types of foods. One of my favorite Arabic dishes is tabbouleh salad because it is something that I can make so easily and tastes very delicious as well. Tabbouleh salad is a fresh bulgur salad, bulgur is a food that is made from parboiled groats of many different types of wheat (this is the main ingredient paired along with the parsley hence why it is a very green color). It is very heartwarming because my mom and I always make it together during family occasions and on regular days as well. My mom has passed down this recipe to me and I hope you guys will enjoy it as much as my family and I do!
Ingredients Needed:
➢ 3 tablespoons of Bulgur (this can be found in Ralphs or Walmart)
➢ 9 bunches of fresh parsley *this is one of the main ingredients so it is highly necessary
➢ ⅓ cup of Onions
➢ 4 tomatoes and 2 cucumbers
➢ 3 tablespoons of Olive oil
➢ ¼ cup of Lemon juice
➢ 1 teaspoon of salt and ground red pepper
➢ Optional: fresh mint that can be added into the parsley & lettuce if preferred to eat with the tabbouleh
Tools needed:
➢ Cutting board
➢ Measuring cups
➢ Vegetable chopper
➢ A few different sized bowls
Steps to making Tabbouleh:
- First, grab a small bowl and add some cold water until half of the bowl is filled. Add the 3 tablespoons of Bulgur into the bowl and let sit for about 1-2 minutes.
- Wash the parsley and cut the stems off of them. We will need to cut the parsley until it is very thin without the stem. This is an important step because we want the parsley to be as thin as possible.
- Wash the tomatoes and cucumbers and then slice them into medium sized slices before putting them into the vegetable chopper. Also, in this step we can cut the onions into slices. Then using the vegetable chopper, cut the tomato slices into thin square cubes. After all of the tomato slices are cut, put them into a separate bowl. With the cucumber slices, cut them using the vegetable chopper and add the onions as well until they are small square cubes. After this is completed, add them into the bowl with the tomatoes.
➢ It is important to be very careful while doing this step!
- Next, grab a large bowl and add all of the vegetables into this bowl with the chopped parsley. Drain the water bowl with the bulgur, and then add the bulgur into the large bowl with the rest of the ingredients. After this, add a teaspoon of salt and a pinch of ground red pepper. Along this, add the ¼ cup of lemon juice with the 3 tablespoons of olive oil into the same bowl.
- Finally, mix all of the ingredients together and taste the delicious salad to see if it needs any salt or more lemon juice.
- Optional: Wash a batch of lettuce and cut into slices just like it is shown in the picture. As it is served on the side of the tabbouleh, put some tabbouleh in the middle of the lettuce and enjoy!
- Optional: You can also add in fresh mint, that can add a little bit more flavor into the tabbouleh.
- Once everything is to your liking, serve the tabbouleh and enjoy this flavorful salad with any other meals that you would like!
As this might seem like a very complicated recipe to make a salad, it becomes very easy to make after more practice. Tabbouleh is also served with fries, kabab, or hummus. Our personal favorite is eating tabbouleh with BBQ (such as kabab and chicken) with a side of hummus in the summer. We usually make this salad in the summer because it can be refrigerated and refreshing on a hot and long summer day. It is a very delicious salad as it can add a little taste of sourness from the lemon juice. There are many more Arabic foods that are very popular and delicious but this salad is in my opinion the best because it can be paired with so many other Arabic foods. Enjoy!
Picture from: https://www.simplyleb.com/recipe/tabbouleh/
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