Tabouleh salad

Tabouleh is a salad I can and have eaten daily for weeks at a time with no complaint. My Teta (Lebanese for Nana) was renown for making the most delicious Tabouleh (so is every other Lebanese grandmother)! Living abroad over the last 8 years, I have noticed the western versions use a larger burghul to parsley ratio and resemble more of a couscous salad. Although Teta’s recipe calls for only a minuscule amount of burghul, many of us in the family have chosen to neglect it all together in order to curtail the bloating side effects. Frankly, I love parsley and don’t care much for the burghul. In any case, if you wish to add burghul, then a handful soaked in water for 15 minutes should be sufficient. Do note it’s to be sprinkled like salt. Tabouleh is delicious served alone or as part of a meal; try it with Beer Butt Chicken, Garlic Sauce and Hummus.


Here’s what you’ll need (serves 4 as a side):
2 large bunches of flat leaf parsley, stems discarded, leaves (about 80 grams) finely chopped
4 spring onions, finely diced
4 plum tomatoes, finely diced
10 fresh leaves of mint, finely chopped
1.5 lemon juiced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
Mixing:
Salt the chopped tomatoes, pepper the chopped onions, add the parsley, lemon juice, olive oil and mix all together. Add more salt and pepper to taste, if needed.