Tabbouleh
A parsley salad with a little bulgur — not the other way round
- Serves
- 4
- Hands-on
- Total
- Level
- Easy
Real tabbouleh is green: a huge pile of finely chopped parsley with tomato, mint and onion, and only a spoonful of fine bulgur to soak up the lemon and olive oil. The work is all knife work; the reward is the freshest salad in the book.
Ingredients
- 40 gfine bulgur wheat (¼ cup)
- 3ripe tomatoesabout 300 g, finely diced, juices kept
- 2 bunchesflat-leaf parsleyabout 150 g leaves and fine stems
- 15 gmint leaves (½ cup)
- 4scallionsthinly sliced
- 60 mllemon juice (¼ cup)plus more to taste
- 75 mlextra-virgin olive oil (⅓ cup)
- ½ tspground allspice or baharatoptional
- 5 gfine sea salt (¾ tsp)
- 1little gem lettuceleaves, to serve
- Diet
- Vegan, Vegetarian, Dairy-free
- Allergens
- gluten
- Origin
- Lebanon and the Levant
- Season
- Spring, Summer
Method
- Rinse the bulgur in a sieve, then put it in a bowl with the diced tomatoes and their juice. Leave 15–20 minutes while you chop; the tomato juice softens the grains.
- Wash the parsley and dry it completely in a salad spinner and towels — wet parsley turns to paste.
- Gather the parsley into a tight bundle and slice it very finely with a sharp knife, working across the bunch rather than chopping back and forth. Do the same with the mint.
- Add the parsley, mint and scallions to the bulgur and tomatoes.
- Dress with the lemon juice, olive oil, allspice and salt. Toss well, taste, and add more lemon or salt — it should be bracingly fresh.
- Serve within the hour, with lettuce leaves to scoop.
Why it works
Fine bulgur is already cooked and dried, so tomato juice and lemon can rehydrate it without boiling, and it absorbs flavor rather than water. Slicing parsley with a sharp knife cuts cleanly through the leaves; chopping repeatedly with a dull knife bruises them, releasing water and turning them dark.
Common mistakes
- Too much bulgur: it becomes a grain salad. Parsley should dominate.
- Using a food processor: the parsley turns to wet mush.
- Making it hours ahead: the herbs wilt and darken. Dress close to serving.
Variations
- Gluten-free
- Replace the bulgur with 60 g cooked and cooled quinoa (Cooking Grains).
Make ahead and storage
Chop the herbs up to 4 hours ahead and keep them wrapped in a damp towel in the fridge; combine and dress just before serving.
