# My Tabouli recipe



## SG_67 (Mar 22, 2014)

Summer is upon us…Finally!

I wanted to share my Tabouli recipe with everyone. First, I am not a chef so I will post it in the only proportions I know. You're are certainly welcome to change to proportions to taste.

Basic ingredients:
2 lbs. of bulgur wheat (available at Whole Foods in the bulk section)
5 vine ripened tomatos (small-medium sized)
1.5 seedless cucumbers
1/2 sweet, white or red onion
2 bunches of parsley (cleaned and stemmed)
2 clam shell containers of mint (cleaned and stemmed)
2-3 lemons
Feta cheese (8 oz. optional, I prefer sheep's milk feta)
Pepper and olive oil

Put the bulgur wheat into a large bowl and pour olive oil over it until you've covered the surface of the wheat. I use probably about 1.5 cups. Add pepper and let sit. 

Then fine chop the tomatoes, cucumbers and the onion and add to the bulgur. Prepare the parsley and mint and chop fine. Then extract the juice from the lemons (your preferred method) and add. 

I don't add salt as I typically will use the feta cheese. I cut the feta cheese into small cubes and add. Then mix everything until all the ingredients are well integrated. Cover and put in the fridge. 

I don't do anything to the bulgur wheat as it is already cooked. It is hard though, so you will need to keep it in the fridge for a few hours to allow all the fluids and olive oil to soak into the wheat to soften it. 

That size of a batch usually lasts about 1 week. If you're going to a cookout then I'm sure it will be gone faster. 

Enjoy!


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## zzdocxx (Sep 26, 2011)

Thank you for sharing that.


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## MaxBuck (Apr 4, 2013)

SG 67, tabouli (or tabbouleh) is joined in my memory almost completely with kibbeh, as I first ate the two together at a picnic with a family that was half Lebanese, half Italian. (Few of those folks were able to wear slim-fit clothing!) Do you also make kibbeh when the weather gets warmer?

Good tabbouleh is hard to beat as a cooling dish in a hot climate. I feel cooler just reading the recipe.


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## SG_67 (Mar 22, 2014)

MaxBuck said:


> SG 67, tabouli (or tabbouleh) is joined in my memory almost completely with kibbeh, as I first ate the two together at a picnic with a family that was half Lebanese, half Italian. (Few of those folks were able to wear slim-fit clothing!) Do you also make kibbeh when the weather gets warmer?
> 
> Good tabbouleh is hard to beat as a cooling dish in a hot climate. I feel cooler just reading the recipe.


Thanks for the correction. I was just spelling it phonetically. I'm embarrassed to admit I'm not familiar with kibbeh and I'm Persian!

I will look up the recipe and familiarize myself with it.


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## MaxBuck (Apr 4, 2013)

SG_67 said:


> Thanks for the correction. I was just spelling it phonetically.


I've seen tabbouleh spelled at least six different ways. I'm not sure there's one single "proper" way to spell it!


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## SG_67 (Mar 22, 2014)

MaxBuck said:


> I've seen tabbouleh spelled at least six different ways. I'm not sure there's one single "proper" way to spell it!


Who cares, right? Just as long as it's delicious and we enjoy it.


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## Langham (Nov 7, 2012)

Have you recipes for any other Persian dishes? It's not a cuisine that I am familiar with - but I was recently invited to a Persian dinner and found it most enjoyable. The main dish consisted mainly of lamb, rice, various dried fruits and certain herbs that I would struggle to identify.


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## SG_67 (Mar 22, 2014)

Langham said:


> Have you recipes for any other Persian dishes? It's not a cuisine that I am familiar with - but I was recently invited to a Persian dinner and found it most enjoyable. The main dish consisted mainly of lamb, rice, various dried fruits and certain herbs that I would struggle to identify.


You'll likely find many similarities between Persian and other Mediterranean dishes. My mother used to make Dolmathes (my favorite!) and Baklava (another favorite!). Of course both were labor intensive so I guess I was a very demanding and high maintenance child.

Lamb and beef Kabob are mainstays. One of my other favorites, and easier for my mom to make, was Ghormeh Sabzi. A wonderful summertime drink is called Doogh (I'm spelling it phonetically). It's basic ingredients are yogurt, carbonated water, pepper mint and cucumber (both finely chopped).

For Dessert, Baklava is always good but I always had it with pistachio rather than walnuts. Another dessert is called Gaz. It's best described as nougat with pistachios in it. I'm not sure how it's made but if you have a middle eastern or Persian market nearby, you should be able to find it.


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## Langham (Nov 7, 2012)

The kabob/kebab I'm quite familiar with - mainly in its Turkish form. Most variants of Mediterranean food are freely available in the UK at various restaurants, but I'm not aware of any middle eastern or Persian markets, apart perhaps from one or two areas in north London. Somehow Iran seems geographically too far from the Mediterranean to share the same cuisine, but perhaps in terms of climate and culture, it's not so different.


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## SG_67 (Mar 22, 2014)

Langham said:


> The kabob/kebab I'm quite familiar with - mainly in its Turkish form. Most variants of Mediterranean food are freely available in the UK at various restaurants, but I'm not aware of any middle eastern or Persian markets, apart perhaps from one or two areas in north London. Somehow Iran seems geographically too far from the Mediterranean to share the same cuisine, but perhaps in terms of climate and culture, it's not so different.


It was along the spice route. Persia invaded Greece and Alexander invaded Persia. The British colonized everyone!

While there are certain foods that are uniquely Persian, sometimes subtle differences as in the way a food was spiced could be the difference.

Here in Chicago, I ate at a Greek/Cypriot restaurant once. The menu had a small mark next to certain dishes in the form of the island of Cyprus. To be honest, I couldn't tell the difference between those and the Greek dishes.


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