Tabbouleh in Cabbage Bowls
I love the freshness of this parsley-bulgur salad (tabbouleh). Growing up, my mom often packed it in my lunchbox, stuffed inside “khubooz” (flat bread). I don’t remember eating it at home for any of the meals but it was always reserved for lunchbox or packed picnic meals.
Feel free to increase the parsley or the bulgur according to your preference. This is how I like it and grew up eating it - lots of greens and less of the grain. There are a lot of variations of this salad - I encourage you to make it the way you like it by adding more or less of any ingredient.
I often serve tabbouleh salad stuffed in cabbage bowls - extra healthy, satisfying, delicious, so pretty and colorful.
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 bunches of curly leaf parsley, washed, de-stemmed, dried, and finely chopped
2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
3/4 cup fine grain bulgur (#1) (Looks like brown cane sugar in apperance)
About 1/4 cup lemon juice (plus more, if needed)
1/2 cup olive oil
2 green onions (scallions/spring onions), finely chopped (the green and the white parts)
3 tbsp fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
Directions
Transfer the finely chopped parsley to a medium size bowl
Place the chopped tomatoes to a mesh strainer that has been placed over another bowl. Sprinkle some salt over the tomatoes and let stand for 15 minutes. Add the tomatoes to the bowl with the parsley. Reserve the tomato water
Add the chopped green onions, chopped mint to the bowl with parsley
In another medium size bowl, mix the bulgur with the lemon juice, olive oil, and the reserved tomato water. Let stand until the bulgur grains soften (I usually let the bulgur grains soak for at least an hour.
After the bulgur has soaked for about an hour, add it to the bowl with the parsley, green onions, tomatoes, and mint
Season with salt, pepper and toss well to combine
Taste and add more lemon juice if you like
Spoon and serve the salad inside cabbage leaves, lettuce, pita or as is.
*The fine bulgur is called #1. I buy “Ziyad” brand bulgur. that has “#1” printed on the package. The bulgur is not cooked. Therefore it is important to get the finest one that becomes soft just by soaking in the liquid.
*You may use the thinner parsley stems too. Just make sure you finely chop all the ingredients.
*I use a salad spinner to dry out all the washed leaves (parsley and mint). You may dry them using a salad spinner or a clean kitchen towel before chopping.
*You may use a food processor to chop the ingredients but I like to hand chop them. By chopping them yourself, the leaves remain crisp and the tomatoes don’t get mushy.
*Leftover salad can be refrigerated for up to a day.
*Gluten-free option - authentic tabbouleh is made with bulgur but if you eat gluten-free, you can replace bulgur with cooked cooled quinoa. I have also seen riced cauliflower versions sold in some salad bars.
