Teta’s tabboulehfeatured
When I built this blog a few weeks ago, I started by importing my small collection of recipes from Instagram. When I was done, I scrolled through and noticed a serious lack of green space. It might be because I rotate through a few standard salads and don’t give them too much thought. They are staples that go well with pretty much everything we eat at home.
So, first I posted my weeknight go-to salad, salata baladi, first. It’s quick and easy and fresh and delicious.
This tabbouleh recipe is all of those things, plus an extra dose of green, green, green from all that fresh and fragrant parsley and mint. But a weeknight salad for me it is not. It takes more time, and requires some attentive chopping if you want to get the right texture while retaining all your digits.
But, it’s really worth the time it takes.
Growing up, tabbouleh was my absolute favourite. A kid who would snack on lemon slices, I’ve always been a fiend for acid and freshness. I always asked (nagged, begged) for this salad. Even though it took a lot of time and energy to make, my Teta always obliged. She really knew how to make me feel loved.
In the days after she passed away in July, we spent a lot of time in her apartment and her kitchen. The place where she laboured endlessly to feed me and my extended family. I collected a few things to remember her by.
My uncle Magdy helped me dig up the mortar and pestle that I so clearly remember her using to pound away at spices and garlic, garlic and more garlic. I took the kitschy plate that she hung up despite her never learning English in her four decades in Canada. It reads, “The best thing I ever have in my kitchen is a friend who likes my cooking”. And I took home her big glass salad bowl. The one she always made overflow with tabbouleh when I would visit.
Since returning home, Teta’s tabbouleh has been high on my list of things to make. I don’t always use her exact recipe. Sometimes I finely minced red onions instead of using scallions, sometimes I skip the cucumber, I knew that I had to make it her way.
I would fill up her bowl, like she always did for me.
So, I gathered my ingredients and diligently worked. I took care to chiffonade my parsley and mint, slicing the leaves into thin ribbons instead of hacking away and bruising them. All the while, I thought about how amazing it was that she did this regularly and she accompanied the tabbouleh with no less than five other dishes every time. I worked at it until I exhausted my patience for making salad, and when I was done my salad only filled her bowl halfway.
Man, did she really love us.
Teta’s tabbouleh
Ingredients
- ¼ cup fine bulgur wheat
- 3 bunches parsley leaves and soft stems
- handful fresh mint leaves
- 3 scallions large
- 2 roma tomatoes or other firm tomato
- 2 persian cucumbers or other small cucumber
- 2 lemons juiced
- 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Wash bulgur wheat, strain, set aside.
- Thinly chiffonade (slice into ribbons) parsley and mint leaves. In small batches, hold leaves tightly against cutting board and slice into thin ribbons, taking care to not hack at them and bruise them. Put aside in a large bowl.
- Thinly chop scallions and finely mince tomatoes and cucumbers. Add to greens.
- Fluff bulgur wheat and add to salad.
- Add lemon juice and olive oil and mix. Ensure greens are lightly but completely coated.
- Add salt and pepper to taste. (I used about 1.5 tsp of crystal kosher salt, but the amount will depend on your taste and choice of salt).
- Mix and enjoy!
