We've got the summer tomatoes in the market already, and some of the herbs too. Time to rustle up some tabbouleh. [Not that we'll be using the oka-hijiki shown here, I just like this picture.]
Here's a very tasty-looking aromatic recipe by Anissa Helou, posted recently by David Lebovitz on his blog. As he points out, it's all about the herbs and tomatoes, and the bulghur is more of an accent...
- Much of what gets called Tabbouleh bears little resemblance to what Lebanese Tabbouleh is. When I moved to France and began eating in traditional Lebanese restaurants, I was served bowls heaped with fresh herbs, a few tomato chunks, and very, very few bits of bulgur (cracked wheat.) Unlike what is served as Tabbouleh in many places – which is often a bowl heaped with bulgur with a few tomatoes and bits of parsley and mint flecks in it – the cracked wheat is meant to be more of a garnish, and I’ve come to love traditional Lebanese Tabbouleh, which is a green, herbal salad with a touch of spices. Anissa Helou is a highly acclaimed cookbook author and culinary guide, who I was fortunate to visit the market in Sharjah with, and I asked her to share her recipe for Tabbouleh in this guest post by her. Literally, right after I tossed in the dressing, I could not stop eating it. You will flip out when you try this. -David
It's worth scanning some of the comments at the bottom of his post for more recipe ideas...
PS: Anyone know anywhere in Tokyo serving anything half this good?
