Tabbouleh (or Tabouli) is a wonderful Mediterranean salad that reminds me of summer. I like to rotate this in whenever I get tired of other salads. The star of this dish is the parsley and there’s a lot of it in this. It’s fresh, herbaceous, and earthy. I use a mix of half curly and half flat leaf parsley; but either type will work great.
This recipe uses couscous (because that’s what was in the pantry!) but really you can swap for any small-sized grain. Bulgar wheat is the classic choice but you can also use quinoa, orzo, rice, acini de pepe. The dish is also not too heavy on the grain, so it feels more like a salad than a grain bowl.
Tabbouleh is even better if made a day ahead. The extra time lets the flavors marinate. Tabbouleh will keep in the fridge for about a week.
Ingredients:
- ½ cup of couscous
- 2 large cucumbers
- 3 tomatoes
- 2 bunch of fresh parsley
Dressing:
- 1 large lemon (¼ cup of lemon juice and zest)
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
Equipment:
Steps:
- Couscous: Prepare couscous according to the package.
- Cucumbers: Peel cucumber. Slice in half. With a spoon, core the center to remove the seeds. The center is watery and make for a less flavorful salad. Dice cucumbers into small pieces.
- Tomotatos: Cut tomatoes in half at the equator. For each half, gently squeeze out the watery seeds. These are removed because we don’t want the finished salad to be watery. Dice tomatoes into small pieces.
- Parsley: Chop parsley into small pieces.
- Dressing: Juice one large lemon (makes about ¼ cup of juice). Optionally, add the zest of the lemon for extra zing. Mix in remaining dressing ingredients.
- Mix all vegetables and dressing. Serve.
Herbaceous Couscous Tabbouleh
Equipment
- 1 vegetable peeler
- 1 zester
- 1 lemon juicer
- salad bowl
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup couscous
- 2 large cucumbers
- 3 tomatoes
- 2 bunches parsley
Dressing
- 1 large lemon
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Instructions
- Couscous: Prepare couscous according to the package.
- Cucumbers: Peel cucumber. Slice in half. With a spoon, core out the center. The center is watery and make for a less flavorful salad. Dice cucumbers into small pieces.
- Tomotatos: Cut tomatoes in half at the equator. For each half, gently squeeze out the watery seeds. These are removed because we don’t want the finished salad to be watery. Dice tomatoes into small pieces.
- Parsley: Chop parsley into small pieces.
- Dressing: Juice one large lemon (makes about ¼ cup of juice). Optionally, add the zest of the lemon for extra zing. Mix in remaining dressing ingredients.
- Mix all ingredients and dressing. Serve.
