Tabbouleh

I love summer - all the fresh vegetables, fruits, and herbs you can eat! One of my favorite meals is probably not considered a meal in any other house, but I love it. The story behind this meal goes back MANY (~25) years. We were at our first duty station - Pensacola Naval Air Station. Yes, I realize my hubby was Air Force (he just retired!), but the services were trying a new "joint" thing. 

Anyhow - my hubby came home from work quite early one day, leaned over, kissed me, and my response was, "where the h#*@ have you been?!" He tasted like garlic and spices and wine! He had stopped at an international food store and tried tabbouleh, hummus, and red wine. I made him take me right then and there. We went back to the store, picked up a container of tabbouleh, one of hummus, and a bottle (maybe two!) of red wine. We lived on that for a couple of days. YUM!

I highly suggest you buy some Sabra hummus (we love the roasted garlic kind), pretzel chips (bagel chips work, too!) and a lovely bottle of red wine to go with the tabbouleh. 

I found this recipe on the internet years ago - hope you enjoy it as much as we do. I put a link on the bulgur wheat, in case you don't know what it is.

Tabbouleh a La Paula Wolfert (I don't know who that is, but she makes a good tabbouleh!)

2/3 cup fine grain bulgur wheat 
8 scallions, finely sliced
½ cup fresh mint leaves, shredded
½ cup fresh sorrel leaves, shredded (optional - I have never found them)
2 cups flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 medium cucumber, peeled, halved, seeded, & finely diced
¾ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
pinch cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
salt
2 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped (yeah - I just chop them and skip the rest!)

Pick over the bulgur and place in a fine sieve; shake to remove any dust and place in cold water to soak briefly.  In a good-sized mixing bowl, combine the scallions, herbs, cucumber, spices, oil and lemon juice.  Drain the bulgur and squeeze by hand to remove any moisture.  Immediately add to the bowl and mix well.  Add salt to taste, cover, and refrigerate overnight.   Before serving, mix in tomatoes and additional salt if needed.

In order to eat this the same day, I will often use hot or boiling water instead of cold water. I don't notice a taste or texture difference, but that could be the wine I'm having with it!