How to make delicious and healthy Tabouli (Tabbouleh, تبولة‎, tabouleh and tabbouli) salad

I suppose there were not a great variety of salads that we ate at home.  Usually we had a green salad with the evening meal and that was that.  However at a barbecue, party or family gathering we always had Tabouli too.  This salad is quite well known now, although it can be spelt in a few different ways e.g. Tabbouleh, تبولة‎, tabouleh and tabbouli.

Fresh Parsley 

To watch a video of my version of Tabouli click on the link below.  It is quite an easy salad once you have the ingredients and a great addition to a BBQ or variation to the typical green salad.  

Tomatoes

Cucumbers

And please like the video by hitting the 'thumbs up' underneath it on YouTube!

Ii is common in the deli of the supermarkets and on the menu at various restaurants where it seems to have moved beyond the realm of just being part of Mediterranean cuisine.  But being an old dish popular throughout the Mediterranean there are a commensurate number of variations of the dish.  

Ingredients

So with Tabouli I find that depending on where you get it or who has made it it can be quite different, from being almost entirely made up of parsley with a sprinkling of bulgur wheat, tomatoes and onion to being mostly made of Bulgur with a smattering of the other items and then whatever in between.  I myself sit more on the side where Bulgur wheat is the star and not the parsley but don’t get me wrong I still like it with plenty of parsley.  A fresh herb in a salad is always great and parsley is fantastic because not only does it add a lovely fresh flavour but it is a wonderfully high source of vitamin A. 

Tabouli (Tabbouleh, تبولة‎, tabouleh and tabbouli)

This refreshing salad has become well known and can be found in kebab shops, restaurants and even in the deli section of local supermarkets.  It can be eaten on its own or as a side dish.

                            

Serves: 6-8

250g/1 cup brown burghul (bulgur) wheat

500 ml/2 cups hot water

2 small onions or 4 spring onions, finely chopped

2 tomatoes, finely diced

½ cup flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

¼ cup olive oil

1-2 lemons, juiced

1 teaspoon salt, or to taste,

pepper, to taste

Place bulgur in a large bowl and cover with hot water.  Leave to stand for 1-2 hours (depends on grind of bulgur).

Drain and squeeze out as much liquid as possible with your hands, then spread out for a few minutes to dry further on a clean tea towel.

In a bowl combine the bulgur, onions, tomatoes, parsley, olive oil and lemon. Season to taste, adding more seasoning, lemon or oil as required.  This salad should be distinctly lemony.

Farmer’s food غذاء الفلاحين Aqul el Fellaheen

Being a Sunday I like to take it easy and have a relaxed day, both in the kitchen and out.  Meals are not as complicated and perhaps not as nutritionally balanced as during the week but what I like the most is to have an easy dinner.  Something without too much effort or without too many dirty dishes!  My favourite easy dinner is Farmer’s food غذاء الفلاحين Aqul el Fellaheen and it has been a favourite ever since I was a child.  Farmer’s food غذاء الفلاحين Aqul el Fellaheen is kind of like mezze (small snack like things) and to me is dinner without work.  Enjoyed by everyone who eats it because you only eat what you like!  Basically, it is a whole variety of ingredients chopped up and placed on a platter.  It is a healthy meal with plenty of fresh vegetables, meat and/or eggs.  People sit around the platter and each person then assembles whatever they like on bread, or crackers and then eats it. Wonderful fresh food which is great in Summer when cold food appeals so much.

I remember eating like this on Sunday nights growing up.  My dad was tasked with getting dinner since my mum did all the cooking during the week.  Dad would empty out most of the fridge of cheeses, vegetables and meats and then set to work cutting and slicing them all.  This was so exciting because it was also the only time we got to eat while watching television.  Sunday night cartoons on Disney.  How I loved those times and the memories.  So much so that I really want to recreate them for my own children.

Click on the picture below to watch the video of Farmer’s food غذاء الفلاحين Aqul el Fellaheen

Farmer’s food غذاء الفلاحين Aqul el Fellaheen

I have actually also had this as a meal for a casual dinner party with friends.  It was such a big hit since it is easy and fun with hands moving in all directions picking up foods of different colours.  Building little towers of food that thrown into mouths whole or is crunched and crumbled and falls onto plates.  This is definitely not a knife and fork meal but who says they all have to be.

Gather together for Farmer’s food غذاء الفلاحين Aqul el Fellaheen:

A selection of bread or crackers such as Salada biscuits, Savoy, water crackers or pita bread(aish balady)

A selection of cheeses such as Feta, Gouda, Parmesan and Cheddar

A selection of deli or cooked meats such as ham, turkey or chicken and salami

Tomato halved and sliced

Lebanese cucumbers sliced

A small onion or several radishes very thinly sliced

Boiled eggs sliced

Olives, pitted

Pickled cucumber, sliced

Farmer’s food غذاء الفلاحين Aqul el Fellaheen

You could add anything else you liked such as sliced

Avocado,

Dips such as Hummus or Baba Ghanoush,

Steamed vegetables

Lettuce

Capsicum or peppers

As well as cooked and sliced meats such as Kofta or sausage, etc. which are great too.

Farmer’s food غذاء الفلاحين Aqul el Fellaheen

Farmer’s food غذاء الفلاحين Aqul el Fellaheen

Place platter on a table.  Sit around it with friends or family and build little towers with cheese, meat and vegetables as you like.  Eat and Enjoy!

Bean Salad سلطة فاصولياء Salatat Faso-ley-a

I had originally planned to write about making Fata but instead one of my most spectacular failures occurred while making one of the simplest dishes.  

Fat - ta فتة Făta  

Fata is a dish that combines dried bread (easy), cooked rice (easy) and stock (easy enough), fried garlic and vinegar.  I made this tonight for dinner and thought it was a great idea because I could make the rice earlier in the day along with the stock which I could put on and could just leave to simmer while I played and entertained the boys. 

I was careful with my quantities and followed the recipe I had written then fed it to the boys for dinner.  Gee what a flop!  Samuel took a taste and then screwed up his face at me while spitting out his mouthful of food.  He followed this by shoving his little fist in his mouth to make sure he had done the job properly and removing every last grain of rice.  Alexander screwed up his face and said “it's not nice mum, can I have something else.”  I had a taste too and was very sympathetic indeed.  (I made Jamie try it when he got home to see if he would give me an honest appraisal.  He said, very politely and carefully, “I think it is missing something…it doesn't have much flavour”.  

I said “Are you kidding?  It’s tasteless”

We ate the chicken, which thankfully tasted nice, with leftovers and the meal was approved by all. 

The next opportunity to talk to dad I mentioned how bad this turned out to see if I had actually missed something.  From what he said I just added too much stock and needed to season it more.  Will try again sometime and write the recipe.  I think the key is the stock.  Good stock makes good Fata.  Yes, I think I should work on the stock first.

In the meantime I thought I would put up a very easy bean salad recipe since I got a request today from someone who would like to be able to make a meal quickly.  So Jacquelyn this one is for you.  If you would also like to make a request for a recipe or like Damien who wanted to know what to do with a pigeon then you can send me a message via Facebook or email me at dynaeldaief@gmail.com.

Bean Salad سلطة فاصولياء Salatat Faso-ley-a

This is a great vegetarian dish with plenty of protein and is a wonderfully simple salad to boot.  Very easy and quick midweek if you take up the option to use a a can of beans from the pantry but would be great served alongside a quiche or grilled fish.

Dried beans can be toxic, particularly red kidney beans which contain natural toxins called Lectins that can cause stomach aches and vomiting. These are destroyed if you soak the dried beans for at least 12 hours and then boil them vigorously for 10 or more minutes in fresh water.  Tinned or canned kidney beans have already gone through this process and so can be used without further treatment. 

Dried beans may take up to 3 hours to cook using the conventional method, but are cooked in about a third to a quarter of the time if cooked in a pressure cooker, making a pressure cooker ideal. 

Using the canned varieties is just as good and means that you can throw this together very quickly and easily.

Use whatever beans you like but if cooking them yourself then the cooking times will depend on the type of beans you use.

Bean Cooking Chart Dried Beans (1 cup) Soaking time Cooking time (approximate) Pressure Cooking time (approximate) Black eye peas Overnight 50-60 minutes (1h) 10-12 minutes  Broad (Fava) Overnight 60-75 minutes (1h+) Not recommended Chick pea Overnight 120-150 minutes(2h+) 15-20 minutes Great Northern Overnight 50-60 minutes (1h) 5-8 minutes Kidney Overnight 75-90 minutes(1 ½ h) 10-15 minutes Lentil (Red) None 25-30 minutes (½ h) 5-7 minutes Lentil (Green) None 35-45minutes (¾h) 6-8 minutes Lima Overnight 75-90 minutes(1 ½ h) Not recommended Mung Overnight 75-90 minutes(1 ½ h) 8-10 minutes Pinto Overnight 75 -90 minutes(1 ½ h) 8-10 minutes Soybean Overnight 180 minutes (3 h) 15-20 minutes

Bean Salad سلطة فاصولياء Salatat Faso-ley-a

Serves: 4

1 cup dried beans (black eye beans, Great northern beans, red kidney beans, or canellini beans)

or

440g can of mixed beans.

2 - 3 tablespoons chopped parsley

½ onion, very finely chopped

1 tomato, finely diced

½ lemon, juiced

1 ½ tablespoons olive oil

Pinch of salt or to taste

Combine olive oil, lemon juice and salt together. 

Place beans in a bowl and add remaining ingredients, mix together and pour the dressing over just before serving.

Bean Salad سلطة فاصولياء Salatat Faso-ley-a