Making Tabbouleh

We've had a nice crop of tomatoes this year and have looked for new and excited ways to eat them, both straight from the garden to a myriad of different ways cooked. We've also canned a bunch of tomatoes in different ways and have the pantry stocked.  The dog days of summer are upon us and the tomato vines, while still producing, are in decline and the daily harvest is only about half what it was previously.

When discussing with Tricia what we were going to do with the rest of them, it suddenly dawned on me that we had not made tabbouleh yet.  Tricia got excited and said, "We'll have tabbouleh tomorrow."  If you aren't familiar with tabbouleh, it is a middle eastern dish that I was introduced to by some childhood friends who were of Lebanese descent.  I would always go to their house and eat kibbie, grape leaf rolls, and tabbouleh.  I love the stuff!

There are many different recipes for it, but here's how we make ours using This Recipe from Bob's Red Mill. We start with Bulgur.  Bulgur wheat is made from the groats of durum wheat.

• 2 cups Bulgur presoaked *
• 3 cups Parsley finely chopped
• 1/4 cup Mint fresh & chopped
• 3 Scallions finely minced
• 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
• 1/4 tsp Ground Cumin
• 1/2 tsp Sea Salt
• 2 Tomatoes medium sized, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 3 Tbsp Lemon Juice
• 3 Tbsp Olive Oil or Safflower Oil

We pour the bulgur in a large bowl and pour 2 cups boiling water over 2 cups of bulgur and allow it to sit for an hour.

Here are all the ingredients laid out, including some nice heirloom tomatoes, mint pulled from the back patio, scallions from the first row in the garden, along with some lemon juice cubes thawing out, parsley, salt, bulgur, and ground cumin.

Simple ingredients for a simply amazing dish

All you need to do is add all the ingredients into the bowl.  Doesn't that look nice?

Put it all in the bowl

Toss it to mix everything up and chill for an hour to allow for all the flavors to mesh and get familiar with one another...

Colorful!

After an hour has passed, pour 3 tablespoons of olive oil on top and toss again.

Ready to serve!

This is nice to serve just plain in a bowl as a salad.  You might also serve on top of a bed of lettuce.  To me, it gets better after it sits in the fridge for 24 hours.  Some people dice cucumber on top as well.  It is a nice, cool salad for sultry summer days.  We enjoy the flavor and another way to incorporate homegrown tomatoes into the menu.