There is a Lebanese restaurant in Cambridge, Massachusetts that is one of my favorite restaurants of all time. Its family owned and everything is incredibly fresh and flavorful. If you have made my Mujaddara or Baba Ganoush, you already know how much I love this place. And today I have another dish inspired by my favorite place: Grain-Free Tabbouleh Salad.
What is Tabbouleh
Tabbouleh is an herb salad that originated in Lebanon + Syria. It typically contains parsley, bulgar (which is cracked wheat), tomato and onion and is dressed with lemon and olive oil. The amount of bulgar varies depending on the country. Some in Middle Easter Countries tabbouleh is mostly bulgar while in others, its mostly parsley. But for this Simple Grain-Free Tabbouleh, I'm skipping the bulgar all together.
How to use Tabbouleh
Tabbouleh is served as a condiment or as an item on a mezze platter. I like to use this Simple Gain-Free Tabbouleh as an addition to a veggie and hummus pita, as a side with some Oven Baked Falafel, or to top a salad along with some crispy chickpeas.
Ingredient Breakdown for Grain-Free Tabouleh
Curly Leaf Parsley
Curly leaf parsley is the main bulk is this Grain-Free Tabbouleh. To prepare the parsley, only remove the large bottom stems. Don't worry about the top little stems. They are tender and full of flavor. The bunches at my grocery store are LARGE. So if yours are small, grab two bunches.
Parsley is great for salad because its hearty and doesn't wilt. So, you can store this prepared Grain-Free Tabbouleh Salad in your refrigerator for days and it wont be gross or wilty.
English Cucumber
In addition to curly parsley I add english cucumber to my Tabbouleh Salad. I prefer english cucumber to regular cucumber. But, if you prefer regular cucumber, add it here! Just be sure to remove the seeds.
Roma Tomatoes
I use Roma tomatoes for this Grain-Free Tabbouleh Salad because they have the least amount of seeds and juice. You can use another tomato variety here, but whichever you use be sure to remove the seeds to avoid a salad that is too wet.
Keep the Dressing Simple
Grain-Free Tabbouleh is dressed with the most simple dressing of them all: lemon and olive oil. Fresh lemon is great, but I typically use this bottled lemon juice by Santa Cruz for ease.
So grab you knife and cutting board and make this Simple Grain-Free Tabouleh. Its the most flavorful addition to a pita, mezze plate or salad topper.
Simple Grain-Free Tabbouleh
Equipment
- Cutting Board
- Knife
- Mixing Bowl
Ingredients
- 1 Large Bunch of Curly Parsley, washed and dried
- ½ Medium English Cucumber, diced about 1 cup
- 2 Small Roma Tomatoes, seeded, cored and diced about 1 cup
- ½ Small Red Onion, finely diced about ½ cup
- 2 tablespoon Lemon Juice
- 1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- ½ teaspoon Kosher Salt less if using fine grain salt
- Black Pepper to Taste
Instructions
- First prepare the parsley, remove the large stems. Don't worry so much about to small stems. Once the big stems are removed you should be left with about 6 cups of lightly packed washed and picked parsley.
- Roughly chop the parsley and add into a large bowl. Add cucumber, tomato, onion, lemon juice, olive oil and salt. Stir well to combine.
- Serve as desired or move to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Let me know how you like this recipe and if there is anything you'd like to see me make next!
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