Eat Healthy and Cheap
Tabbouleh
Most tabbouleh sold outside the Levant gets the ratio backward: heavy on bulgur, parsley added almost as a garnish. The traditional dish runs the other way, a chopped herb salad that carries a few spoonfuls of grain for texture, not a grain salad flecked with green. With no olive oil to bind it, the dressing leans on tomato juice drained off before it waters down the salad, then put back to work with the lemon. Chop the parsley by hand: a food processor bruises the leaves into a wet, bitter mash instead of leaving each piece distinct.
Ingredients
- 4 cups Flat-leaf parsley, packed, leaves and thin stems, finely chopped by hand
- 1/3 cup Bulgur, fine grind, rinsed
- 1/3 cup Mint, leaves, finely chopped
- 6 Scallions, thinly sliced
- 3 Fresh tomatoes, small, diced small, juice reserved
- 3 Lemons, juiced (about 1/2 cup / 120 ml)
- 1/2 tsp Black peppercorns, freshly ground
Method
- Put the bulgur in a small bowl, cover with cold water by an inch, and let it soak 15 to 20 minutes, until the grains are pliable but still have a slight bite. Drain in a fine sieve and press out the excess water with the back of a spoon.
- Dice the tomatoes small and tip them into the same sieve set over a bowl, with half the black pepper. Let them drain for 10 minutes: that juice becomes the base of the dressing, doing the job olive oil usually does in this salad.
- Chop the parsley by hand with a sharp knife, not a food processor, which bruises the leaves into wet green paste instead of leaving separate flecks. Gather it into a tight pile and rock the blade through it until it is fine.
- Chop the mint the same way, then thinly slice the scallions.
- In a large bowl, combine the drained bulgur, chopped parsley, mint, scallions, and drained tomatoes.
- Whisk the lemon juice into the reserved tomato juice with the rest of the black pepper, pour it over the salad, and toss until every leaf is coated. Let the bowl sit 10 minutes before serving: this is when the bulgur finishes softening and the parsley loses its raw bite.
- Taste and add more lemon juice if it needs it. Serve the same day, since parsley wilts and weeps by the next one, mounded on romaine or cabbage leaves for scooping.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 105 calories, 5 g protein, 6 g fiber. Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement.
Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt.
