Tabbouleh
I normally do not write much about recipes . But this time I thought I'll make an exception as I was inspired by my friend who regularly posts good recipes in her blog. And this dish that I came across recently, I have fallen for it and want to share it so that you can too! It meets all the criteria for being a perfect dish as per my tight appraisal ;).
This dish is the definition of healthy, and recently it has come to be a regular in our weekly menu. We had been making it once a week for about a month now and chances are that we will continue to do so because frankly I don't see a reason not to. Well first of all its super easy - the preparation time is only 15 minutes and there is no cooking at all! Yes, that's right absolutely no cooking! The only attention to detail is that all the ingredients need to be chopped neatly for better appearance and the parsley is not so much cut as it is shaved. Provided you have the ingredients, which by the way is only a handful, it makes for a perfect dish for a busy week night when you don't have time for a more complex dish or for one of those days when you are caught not having planned ahead for a meal and you are staring at your open refrigerator with a blank mind. Secondly, like I said before, this dish is very healthy. And finally, it tastes really, really good which is why you will most certainly want to make it over and over again like we have.
Tabbouleh is basically a salad, which explains the no-cooking part. The two main ingredients that go in to making this dish are bulgur wheat or burgur wheat (which is nothing but cracked wheat) and parsley, although the amount of parsley used is in no way comparable to bulgur. There is so much parsley that you might as well call it a parsley salad. But then again, if you don't like the parsley predominance, you can tone it down to a more acceptable level for you and add more of the other ingredients. There are a few varieties of the bulgur based on how fine or course the granules are. Bulgur wheat #1 is finer, progressively getting courser as the numbers increase. I have used bulgur #3 so far and I like it. It doesn't really matter which you use, just as long as you know that the courser type takes comparatively longer to soak.
Note : The quantities are adjusted for 1 bunch of parsley. For 2 bunches of parsley, double the rest of the ingredients except the romaine lettuce which is mostly used for presentation.
Ingredients
Bulgur wheat - 2 handfuls
Parsley - 1 bunch
scallions - 2 sprigs
mint - 1 sprig
tomato - 2 nos
jalapeno - 1 (deseeded)
lemon - 1
cucumber/zucchini - 1 medium size
salt - to taste
Romaine Lettuce - 1 bunch
Wash the bulgur. Then chop the tomatoes and mix with bulgur along with lemon juice and salt. Let it sit till the bulgur is fully soaked and edible. You can also add 2 to 3 tablespoons of water if desired. Meanwhile prepare the rest of the ingredients. Shave the parsley, chop the jalapeno, mint, cucumber and scallions. When the bulgur is soaked, mix all the prepared ingredients and add salt if desired. That's it. Tabbouleh is done!
Peel the romaine lettuce, wash. Scoop out about half a cup of tabbouleh and spread on the lettuce and enjoy!
This can be accompanied with some kind of protein like grilled or baked chicken/lamb etc.. add chappatis or pita for the carb and you have a complete meal. I have seen people add bell peppers, radishes and basically any vegetable that can be eaten raw. Surely it doesn't get any healthier than this. I mean a bunch of parsley is like a vitamin pill on its own and the rest of the vegetables make it delicious if you use the freshest. All the fiber goodness, vitamin C and what not! And did I mention its super-easy?!
This dish is the definition of healthy, and recently it has come to be a regular in our weekly menu. We had been making it once a week for about a month now and chances are that we will continue to do so because frankly I don't see a reason not to. Well first of all its super easy - the preparation time is only 15 minutes and there is no cooking at all! Yes, that's right absolutely no cooking! The only attention to detail is that all the ingredients need to be chopped neatly for better appearance and the parsley is not so much cut as it is shaved. Provided you have the ingredients, which by the way is only a handful, it makes for a perfect dish for a busy week night when you don't have time for a more complex dish or for one of those days when you are caught not having planned ahead for a meal and you are staring at your open refrigerator with a blank mind. Secondly, like I said before, this dish is very healthy. And finally, it tastes really, really good which is why you will most certainly want to make it over and over again like we have.
Tabbouleh is basically a salad, which explains the no-cooking part. The two main ingredients that go in to making this dish are bulgur wheat or burgur wheat (which is nothing but cracked wheat) and parsley, although the amount of parsley used is in no way comparable to bulgur. There is so much parsley that you might as well call it a parsley salad. But then again, if you don't like the parsley predominance, you can tone it down to a more acceptable level for you and add more of the other ingredients. There are a few varieties of the bulgur based on how fine or course the granules are. Bulgur wheat #1 is finer, progressively getting courser as the numbers increase. I have used bulgur #3 so far and I like it. It doesn't really matter which you use, just as long as you know that the courser type takes comparatively longer to soak.
Note : The quantities are adjusted for 1 bunch of parsley. For 2 bunches of parsley, double the rest of the ingredients except the romaine lettuce which is mostly used for presentation.
Ingredients
Bulgur wheat - 2 handfuls
Parsley - 1 bunch
scallions - 2 sprigs
mint - 1 sprig
tomato - 2 nos
jalapeno - 1 (deseeded)
lemon - 1
cucumber/zucchini - 1 medium size
salt - to taste
Romaine Lettuce - 1 bunch
Wash the bulgur. Then chop the tomatoes and mix with bulgur along with lemon juice and salt. Let it sit till the bulgur is fully soaked and edible. You can also add 2 to 3 tablespoons of water if desired. Meanwhile prepare the rest of the ingredients. Shave the parsley, chop the jalapeno, mint, cucumber and scallions. When the bulgur is soaked, mix all the prepared ingredients and add salt if desired. That's it. Tabbouleh is done!
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