Tabbouleh
Real Lebanese tabbouleh: a parsley salad with a little fine bulgur, not the other way around. Lemon-bright, herb-green, no cooking.
- prep
- 30 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total
- 30 min
- serves
- 4
- level
- easy
The single fact that separates real tabbouleh from the deli version: it is a parsley salad with some bulgur in it, not a bulgur salad with some parsley. Three fat bunches of parsley to a few spoons of grain is the Lebanese ratio.
The bulgur is fine-grade and never cooked; it softens in the tomato juice and lemon while you chop. Everything else is knife work and seasoning confidence.
Tabbouleh is one of the world's classic dishes from 67 countries.
method
Put the bulgur in your serving bowl with the diced tomatoes and their juice and half the lemon juice. It softens while you work.
Wash the parsley and dry it completely; wet parsley turns the salad to mush.
Bunch the parsley tight and shave it fine with a sharp knife; chop the mint the same way.
Add the herbs and spring onion to the bowl with the remaining lemon, the oil, allspice and salt.
Toss, taste, and push it brighter with lemon and salt than feels polite. Serve soon, with lettuce leaves for scooping.
chef's tips
- Dry parsley and a sharp knife. Wet herbs and a dull blade bruise it into sludge.
- Fine bulgur only, never cooked, never coarse.
- Tabbouleh fades within hours; it is a make-and-eat salad, not meal prep.