Tabbouleh

If you said “let’s go out for a Turkish tonight” I would previously have had to weigh up the time span between now and my last kebab and consider if my body was ready for the next undertaking. But now I know better than to conjure up such a swift image of mayo and chilli slathered wraps. The cuisine of almost the entire Middle East take their traditional dishes from Turkey, thanks to the Ottoman Empire rule, and they don’t all eat kebabs every day in Jordan. No, sir. Mezze is king. And besides those gloriously charcoal charred lamb chunks with natural yoghurt you will find a beautiful array of light, vegetarian low-carb accompaniments.  Tabbouleh is the staple of these.

This dish will stand proudly by itself as a healthy lunch box salad, but does just as well siting alongside many main dishes. Its quick to make too.

To serve 4 as a main

2 cups of bulgar wheat
4 tomatoes chopped into small chunks
1 cucumber seeded and chopped into small chunks
4 spring onions finely chipped
Bunch of parsley, stalks removed
Bunch of mint, stalks removed
Juice of 1 lemon
Olive oil

Firstly soak the bulgar wheat in boiling water and set aside for 10 minutes until it is soft to bite. Next loosely chop the parsley and mint, along with your tomatoes, cucumber and spring onion. Add the vegetables, herbs together in a bowl. Drain the bulgar wheat and refresh under cold water, before adding to the mix. Toss the mixture together with the lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper. Serve.