I remember the first time I made this for my husband. He was amazed at the flavors, you will be too. This is a simple, flavorful, fresh and healthy salad, a refreshing change from heavy mayonnaise based salads. It's a fabulous barbecue side-dish.
Don't skimp with this recipe. Use extra-virgin olive oil, fresh
lemon juice and fresh mint. Use flat-leaf parsley, not curly, as there is definitely a difference in taste. I prefer plum tomatoes. I use red onions in this dish sometimes, and if I have celery I add
it, finely chopped. If I have a seedless English cucumber I add that too.
One of the best things about a dish like this is that you can make it to suit your taste
preferences.
It is very common to prepare bulghar wheat in a cheesecloth so that it can be well drained. I didn't have cheesecloth so I used a clean pair of panty hose. I cut the legs off, just leaving a few
inches and tied them together so that the body of the panty hose would hold the bulghar. I then stretched the waistband over a bowl, filled it with the bulghar wheat and water, let it sit and then was able to squeeze the wheat dry. It worked like a charm.
Tabbouleh (crushed wheat, tomato, mint and parsley
salad)
1/2 cup fine bulghar (crushed wheat) 3 medium-sized fresh, ripe tomatoes, finely chopped 1 cup finely chopped parsley, preferably
flat-leafed 1 cup finely chopped onions 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice 2 teaspoons salt 1/3 cup olive oil (use extra
virgin) 2 tablespoons finely cut fresh mint, or 1 tablespoon dried mint crumbled Romaine lettuce leaves (optional)
Place the bulghar in a bowl or pan and pour in
enough cold water to cover it completely. Let it soak for ten minutes, then drain in a sieve or colander lined with double thickness of dampened cheesecloth. Wrap the bulghar in the cheesecloth and squeeze it vigorously until completely dry.
Drop the bulgur into a deep bowl, add the tomatoes, parsley, onions, lemon juice and salt and toss gently but thoroughly together with a fork
Just before serving, stir in the olive oil, mint and taste for seasoning. Mound the salad in a serving bowl or spoon it onto romaine lettuce leaves.