Tabouli Salad

A staple salad at Syrian restaurants, this colorful dish is made with the freshest ingredients, bring spring time to any table. Finely-chopped parsley, tomato and burgul are dressed with lemon and olive oil. Reserve your best olive oil for this dish as it showcases its full flavor!

Ingredients

  • 2 bunches (or 1 1/2 cup densely-packed) finely chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 cup finely chopped tomato
  • 1cup finely chopped cucumber (optional), peel and seed if using American cucumbers
  • 1/4 cup fine burgul (bulgur) #1
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh mint leaves or 2 teaspoon dried mint leaves
  • 3 scallions, finely chopped
  • 1/2 fresh lemon juice
  • 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 paprika
  • 1/2 – 1 teaspoon salt (adjust to taste)
  • A little black pepper
  • Some lettuce leaves for serving

Directions

  1. In a bowl, soak burgul with room-temperature water to cover and leave for 20 minutes. Drain the water while pressing the burgul to remove all excess water. Burgul should not have a bite after soaking.
  2. Meanwhile, combine all ingredients in a big bowl, except salt. Add burgul and mix well.
  3. Reserve in a refrigerator. Add salt right before serving. Adding salt earlier will cause the other veggies to welt and make tabouli soggy.
  4. Serve in lettuce leaves/cups. Tabouli taste great with other Syrian mezze dishes such as Safiha (Mini Meat Pies)Baba Ghanouj, and Kibbeh bil sanieh (Kibbeh Pie).

Makes 3-4 servings