Cucumbers and garlic, in tabbhouleh? No way....

Chris - July 2, 2007 02:40:25 PM PST

I have been eating tabbouleh all of my life and can speak from experience here. Reading over this recipie, I feel like you\'re going to be robbed of a unique taste, plus it seems that you\'re going to be eating a very dry salad. If you\'re into Middle Eastern/Medditeranean foods you\'re already aware that a lot of dishes have garlic as one of the staple ingredients. A way to change the flavor and cleanse your palette from being over garlic\'d is to remove the garlic from this recipie all together.

Just some other thoughts, I\'ve been making this for the past few years myself and I learned this directly from a person who is a mediteranean culinary king - my father. Ingredients I use:

1/2 cup bulgur (or to taste)
4 fresh medium to large lemons, squeezed
1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste (yes, pepper, but only a VERY little)
2 bunches chopped parsley (bunches, not cups)
2 large seeded tomatoes, diced small
several sprigs of fresh mint, chopped
1 bunch spring onion (scallion)

Fresh lemons are the key to a tasty tabbouleh. Add all the parsley, onions, tomatoes and bulgur to a large glass or ceramic bowl. Do not use metal as the acid from the lemons will react with it and change the flavor. Add the chopped mint, salt and pepper. Add the lemon juice. Mix the ingredients together well. Slowly add in the olive oil. Taste tabbouleh and add more lemon juice, olive oil, salt or mint to adjust taste. You want to make sure that there is plenty of liquid resting on the bottom of the bowl. Once you have the tabbouleh to your liking, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for an hour or longer. Occasionally stir the tabbouleh while it is chilling so that the bulgur absorbs the lemon juice. Taste it again and adjust the ingredients as needed.

The best part about this recipe is that it doesn\'t have to be exact, you can always change the ratio of olive oil and lemon juice to taste. This is a great complement to foods that are very garlicy. Eat with plenty of whole wheat pita bread as a snack or enjoy it as a side with burgers or mediteranean fare.

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The wrong Tabbouleh I ever heard of

Nana - May 28, 2009 03:35:38 PM PST

As a Lebanese and I know that Tabbouleh is one of our national and during summer almost everyday salad. We never add Garlic or cucumber to Tabbouleh, We also use Burgul to taste not much for the 2 bunches of flat leaf parsley and let\\'s say one to 2 tomatoes shopped very small as the parsley and the green onion and some mint if you dont have fresh mint you can use dry one or you can use both. then mix all the ingredients with fresh lemon juice 1 To 2) as you like the sourness inthe Tabbouleh I do advice 1 and add 1/2 to 1 cup of extra virgin oil and some salt

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