Tabbouleh

[Pepper Pig Profile]

I haven't made this since the kids were at home as OH doesn't care for it but a Vegan friend has posted this recipe plus a lovely photo on FB.

https://cookieandkate.com/best-tabbouleh-recipe/

1. Do you take the stalks off the parsley (they don't)?

2. Do you peel the cucumber first which I used to?

3. I'm really fancying it in this weather, does anyone have a better recipe?

[KeenCook2 Profile]

Since we got the book, I've used Claudia Roden's recipe in Arabesque, which is ace. The best one I've ever had.

I'll see if I can find it online or try and send you a photo of it .... don't go away ....

[Stokey Sue Profile]

There seem to be as many versions of tabbouleh as there are Middle Eastern cooks

The version you get in meze in Beirut is definitely a parsley salad with additions, very little bulgar or other ingredients

Like this - Anissa Helou’s authentic Lebanese version

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/tabbouleh_91782


I tend to make a Lebanese colleague’s rustic version, which can be more of a salad as we know it

Rinse a handful (as much as you like) of bulgar, drain and put in the salad bowl
Top with chopped ripe tomatoes, lightly salted
Leave until lunch time - at least half an hour but up to two hours
Add masses of parsley, and mint if you like, a little red onion, lemon juice and olive oil and mix

[Sakkarin Profile]

This is the last time I made it. I see from the date of the pic it was 10 years ago

Doesn't look a great deal different from the version in the article, although parsley chopped rather than minced, and it looks like I've destalked it...

www.sakkarin.co.uk/foodforumpix/tabbouleh2020.jpg

[KeenCook2 Profile]

Not sure if you'll be able to read these, but here goes!

[scullion Profile]

i use flat leaved parsley, i don't use the stalks and i definitely don't chop it in the food processor. the mint and parsley get quite a rough chop and looks like there's more in proportion to the bulgur than in that photo.
i've also never put (or eaten elsewhere) cucumber in it.
it looks like i make it similarly to sue.

[KeenCook2 Profile]

I have just found a pdf of the book, at something called kingauthor.co/books but can't believe it's legit?
Are they allowed to publish a pdf of a complete book on the web?

It doesn't feel right ...??

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Interesting KC2 - that’s more the proportions of my “rustic” version than Anissa Helou’s dainty city version

Shows how much they vary

[Earthmaiden Profile]

I don't remember tomato or cucumber being an ingredient. Just hydrated bulghar wheat with lots of of parsley (including the smaller stalks) , mint, some red onion or spring onion bottoms, optional garlic and lots of lemon juice and olive oil. Any other salad veg served separately.

Quite high on my list of favourite things to eat. I agree that the pic in the OP looks lovely.

[karadekoolaid Profile]

Interesting version of tabbouleh.
Mine has always been:
bulghur wheat #3; I once asked in a local Lebanese restaurant and they said that´s what they used. More texture, more chewy.
Flat leaf parsley, and perhaps some of the stems. I usually cut off the thickest parts, but never use just the leaves. plenty of it.
Tomatoes - diced.
Spring onion - maybe just one or two, depending on the quantity I´m making.
Mint. Usually fresh, but occasionally dried
Abundant lemon juice, salt, olive oil.
I use flat leaf parsley because I find it´s got more flavour, and occasionally I´ll de-seed the tomatoes, for no other reason than to make the salad look prettier!
I´ve never put cucumber in tabbouleh, and I´ve never chopped the herbs in a processor; always by hand. I´d imagine you´d just get parsley pulp in a machine. No garlic, either. Garlic for babagannoush and hummus.
What´s the flavour I look for? I´d say I want the taste of the parsley, tomatoes and wheat to come through, with a fresh zing from the lemon and salt, with just a suggestion of the onion and mint. too much onion or mint? Overpowering. Too little parsley? Dull.

[Badger's Mate Profile]

I have made this with roughly chopped flat-leaved parsley, including the stalks.

Mrs B's reaction was "if you were to make this again, what would you change?"


Which is now a euphemism for parsley in this house. I have to secrete the stuff by liquidising in oil or vinegar or lemon juice. Green sauce is doable here but only if the parsley is pulped.

[mistakened Profile]

The thing to remember about Tabbouleh is that essentially it contains ingredients from your garden, parsley, mint, lemon etc, plus ingredients that you have in store such as olive oil.

[Earthmaiden Profile]

You might have lemons in your garden Moira ..

[mistakened Profile]

You might have lemons in your garden Moira ..

No,Only a mandarin tree and a lime tree in a pot. I do not think that carob pods go in anything

Moira

[scullion Profile]

my partner uses carob in cake and i have a mugful in the evening instead of cocoa (palpitations - grrrr). the fresh ground is lovely, sweet and fruity. the one i'm using at the moment is not the best - i won't be buying it again.

[Lusciouslush Profile]

Lots of mint, lots of parsley - including stalks ( where the flavour is), plenty of lemon - in fact anything that makes it zing with freshness - cucumber, for many reasons is a big no-no as are tomatoes - I have started adding fresh sorrel sometimes along with chopped lemon balm too & if I really go off-piste - chopped coriander - including the stalks

[Pepper Pig Profile]

Thanks for all the ideas! Very helpful.

[Amyw Profile]

This is giving me a massive tabbouleh craving . I love grain salads in summer , filling but still light and you can add all sorts to them . Never really got on With pasta salads though , I find them too claggy.

[karadekoolaid Profile]

Pasta salads are a different animal altogether, Amy.
"Claggy" sounds to me like (a) overcooked and (b) too much mayo/cream, etc. And that´s probably true!

[Lokelani Profile]

We love bulgar wheat warm steamed with chicken stock & roasted veg through it, it goes with so many things. I make double & cool some for a tabbouleh type lunch the next day.

I must admit I tend to throw whatever I have in. Usually spring onion or red onion (if it's only for us in case it makes it a bit pink!), parsley & sometimes chives, chopped pepper, radish, tomatoes, cucumber. I tend to make a dressing from balsamic vinegar, tiny bit of dijon mustard & walnut oil. So definitely not traditional by the looks of it. I'll have to try it with lemon & mint, I'll bet it's lovely & fresh.

I often top it with fried slices of halloumi. Yummy.