Summer is here and lettuce is ready in the garden! One of my very favorite salads is a traditional Lebanese salad called tabouleh (tab-oo-ley) and this recipe was brought to the states in the 1920’s by my Great-Grandmother. Now I hate to start off anything with an apology, but I must apologize to my gluten-free friends: this is not for you. Its LOADED with gluten in the form of Bulgar Wheat, which is an ancient grain superfood that used to be considered sacred (around 2800 B.C) due to its resistance to insects and spoilage.
This salad is highly nutritional: high in fiber and good carbs, lycopene, Vitamins C & K. Is it already sounding complicated? Don’t worry, it is extremely simple to make, yet quite tasty.
There are many variations on tabouleh salad, and some don’t even really use lettuce, but our family tradition is to finely chop iceberg lettuce. In most salads my least favorite lettuce is iceberg, but because of tradition I haven’t tried anything else- feel free to use a different crunchy lettuce like romaine and make it even healthier!
- 2 Bunches Parsley
- ½ head iceberg lettuce
- 1 Small Sweet Onion
- 1 Tomato
- 1 sprig Fresh Mint
- ¼ C Bulgar Wheat
- 2 Lemons
- Salt and Pepper
- Olive Oil
- Cover bulgar wheat with juice from 1 lemon and warm water. Let sit for 60 minutes or until wheat is soft. Finely mince lettuce, parsley, onion, tomato and mint. Combine all ingredients with lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Feeds 6. Serve with Lebanese Bread or Pita.
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