Tabbouleh Salad

Here is a picture of Tabbouleh salad made by me on New Year’s eve 2018. It really makes a sublime pairing with any Levantine meat dish.

Tabbouleh is a Levantine vegetarian salad. It is traditionally made of finely chopped parsley, scallions, fresh mint leaves, burghul wheat (bulgur) and diced tomatoes and seasoned with virgin olive oil, lemon (or lime) juice and salt. My mother always says that the key to heavenly tabbouleh salad is to know how to moisten it and there are four secrets to that success:

Secret 1: Make sure that all vegetables are completely dry before chopping them.

Secret 2: Use the pre-salting technique for the tomatoes in a bid to remove the excess liquid through osmosis in order to prevent the salad from becoming soggy or soupy later. Tomato water can be used to soak and soften the burghul wheat.

Secret 3: Add finely chopped roman lettuce (1/3 of the parsley amount) to achieve a perfect moisture.

Secret 4: Make sure to pour the dressing on the salad right before serving to keep it fresh and crunchy.

Extra tips:
1- Tabbouleh salad can be entirely made with quinoa as an alternative to burghul wheat. It will make a great option for a gluten-free diet.

2- Black pepper is my secret taste enhancer. I usually add a pinch of it to Tabbouleh salad to deepen and boost its taste.

3- Serve the salad with Roman lettuce or fresh vine leaves.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup bulgur wheat, soaked in the tomato water.
• Two bunches of parsley (washed, dried and finely chopped)
• One bunch of mint (washed, dried and finely chopped)
• One bunch of scallions (washed, dried and finely chopped)
• Ten large Roman lettuce leaves (washed, dried and finely chopped)
• Two large tomatoes (diced into small cubes.)
• Juice of 1 lemon or lime
• 1/2 cup of virgin olive oil

• Salt and pepper to taste

Enjoy :)