Tabbouleh Recipe
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This light, healthy dish found across the Mediterranean is the ideal summer salad. While pine nuts and sumac are not traditional, they add extra crunch and a lemony zip. Serve this tabbouleh alongside some lamb meatballs for a tasty dinner.
What to buy: You can find ground sumac in Middle Eastern markets or by mail from Kalustyan’s.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups water
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more as needed
- 1 cup medium-grind bulgur
- 1/2 cup plus 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling (optional)
- 1/2 cup pine nuts
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup finely chopped Italian parsley leaves (from about 2 bunches)
- 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh mint leaves (from about 1/2 bunch)
- 5 medium scallions, finely chopped (white and light green parts only)
- 4 medium Roma tomatoes, seeded and small dice (about 1 3/4 cups)
- 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about 2 medium lemons)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground sumac
- 1 medium head romaine lettuce, for serving
INSTRUCTIONS
- Combine the water and measured salt in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the bulgur, stir to combine, and remove the pan from the heat. Cover with a tightfitting lid and let sit until the bulgur is tender, about 15 minutes. Drain well through a fine-mesh strainer, pressing out the excess liquid, and place the bulgur in a large bowl. Let cool to room temperature.
- Meanwhile, place 2 teaspoons of the oil in a small frying pan, add the pine nuts, season with salt and pepper, and stir to coat. Toast the nuts over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until they’re golden brown and fragrant, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside until cooled.
- Add the parsley, mint, scallions, tomatoes, and cooled pine nuts to the cooled bulgur and stir to combine.
- Place the lemon juice, remaining 1/2 cup oil, and sumac in a small, nonreactive bowl and whisk until combined. Add the dressing to the bulgur mixture and stir to combine. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. Cover and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes or up to 6 hours.
- When ready to serve, prepare the lettuce leaves. Discard any tough or bruised outer leaves and cut off and discard the stem end. Separate the leaves and cut each leaf in half crosswise. Wash and dry thoroughly. Line a large serving plate with the lettuce leaves. Drizzle the tabbouleh with olive oil, if desired, and toss to combine. Spoon onto the lettuce leaves and serve.
yeah, you're right, wisepam - there sure are many many variations found in individual family recipes. I definitely agree about the food processor - it's not for tabouli and it's use is probably why I don't care for most restaurant versions - it kinda destroys the delicacy and 'body' of it.
First, I suspect tabbouleh is like meatloaf--everybody does it somewhat differently. I learned from a woman of Lebanese parentage and even thought I know most Lebanese have a heavy hand with the parsley, she used about the same ratio as your recipe. She soaked the bulgur for two hours and squeezed it dry, handful by handful. Also, she always used cinnamon and garlic salt (rather than raw garlic). She used sumac in other recipes but never tabbouleh.
As for tomatoes, I prefer them juicy because I love the flavor/sweetness of the tomatoes with the lemon--so I would never choose Romas. She would use twice as many lemons as this recipe. Finally, she never used pepper. One last thing, when I first got a food processor some years ago, I thought it would save me from all the tedious chopping but I discovered I didn't like way the processor bruised the parsley.
just to clarify a bit further.... the type of tabouli we most often see here is Lebanese style - that type IS a parsley salad using a relatively small amount of bulgar (and usually the fine-grain type). It's quite different than the basic tabouli made elsewhere in the Middle East. By the way; They're both good! And good for you.
strongly disagree. In many parts of the Middle East, tabouli has little resemblance to the gloppy green version we often see in restaurants here. It's more typically a bulgar pilaf with tons of parsley and lots of mint and lemon. Made that way, it's a much more substantial dish that can be a meal or a side dish - it's not really a salad. Other typical additions are crumbled feta, chopped Kalamata olives and diced cucumbers. Many traditional family recipes include a lot of chopped garlic, some, like this recipe, have none. Many don't use sumac. Try it - you just may like it much better! Tabouli can be much more than we typically know it to be....
The picture looks good. It just doesn't look like tabbouleh.
Definitely too much bulgur. It is a parsley salad with bulgur, so it should be more like 2 cups parsley to 1 cup bulgur. At least. Re: tomatoes, be sure to use firm roma tomatoes and don't dump the seeds and juice in, and it won't get too wet. I'd probably go lighter on the scallions and heavier on the lemon too.
way too much bulgur to parsley. It's supposed to be parsley with bulgur in it, not the other way around.
I omit tomatoes and cucumbers from tabbouleh because then it doesn't get as wet and goopy and I can keep it in the refrigerator for a week---the veg can be enjoyed on the side along with spoonful of hummos. Also I make tabbouleh only when I can get fresh mint. It has occurred to me that half of what I cook was unknown to my mother and grandmother---our US cuisine has gotten much more diverse in recent years---and nothing, more tha cold lemony minty tabbouleh on a hot summer day, reminds me of how much they missed.