Friday, June 4, 2010

Tabbouleh with cilantro



I made tabbouleh for the first time the other day. One of the grocery chains here sells staples in bulk--I can buy rye flour, steel-cut oats, barley, dried beans, sundried tomatoes, etc., etc., in bulk (plus yogurt-covered pretzels and gummy bears--I haven't turned into a total hippie yet). As part of my recent re-stocking, I got a big bag of bulgur wheat. Then when I got home, I remembered I can use bulgur wheat to make tabbouleh. Whereas previously I'd mostly been throwing it into soups, a handful at a time.

The tabbouleh was super-easy and really good. Start with one cup of bulgur wheat, uncooked. Cover it with enough cold water so there's an inch of water above the grains, and let soak for 20 minutes. While it's soaking, chop:
one or two big fresh tomatoes
a big handful of mint
a big handful of parsley
a big handful of cilantro
some very finely chopped onion or a few green onions (I went light on the onions since I'm not a huge fan of raw onion)
Drain the wheat and add this stuff to it, along with the juice of one lemon and maybe 1/4 cup of olive oil, and salt to taste. Let this sit for another hour or so, to allow the flavors to combine. Eat. Yum.

I took the mint and the parsley from my container garden, but I didn't have quite enough to go around, which is why I added the cilantro. An inspired touch, if you ask me.

No comments:

Post a Comment