I am on a roll with the August issue of Eating Well magazine. In particular, the feature on grain salads has produced two winners so far- and I’m eyeing up a third one. After the success of the Beet & Barley salad, I forged ahead with the Tabbouleh with Chickpeas last night.
I don’t think I’ve ever actually eaten a genuine tabbouleh. I’ve eaten similar salads made with couscous, but I’ve never actually experienced the bulgur used in this recipe from the Middle East. I bought a small container of bulgur a week or so ago, and discovered how easy it is to prepare. The recipe called for putting it in a bowl and pouring boiling water over it, covering it, and then coming back later to drain it. I’m not sure what the draining step was about, because my bulgur soaked up all the water- there wasn’t a drop left, and it certainly wasn’t soggy. It was light and fluffy, and smelled faintly like cream of wheat. I tasted a small bit of it plain, and thought it quite tasty as is, actually.
After my bulgur was cooked I looked ahead in the recipe and saw additional steps that confused me. It wanted me to salt and drain cucumbers, as well as tomatoes. Well, I was already using seedless cucumbers, so I didn’t have all this excess moisture. For the tomatoes I opted to use grape tomatoes cut in half, and I didn’t want to drain those either, so I skipped those steps. I don’t know, maybe the draining of everything does something to the salad, but I would make it the exact same way again.
One thing the recipe suggested that I stuck with was toasting cumin seeds before I ground them up. Wow! This added such an incredible layer of flavor- and the house smelled fantastic from the toasting as well. I got everything in the bowl except the feta, put in the fridge for an hour, and when I pulled it out, I wondered what the family would think.
This tabbouleh was delicious. Everything complemented everything else. The hint of cinnamon married beautifully with the lemon juice. The mint played nicely with the parsley and fresh vegetables. The salty feta added a great punch at the end, and I simply could not get enough. Andy had seconds of the salad, and Abigail ate every bite off of her plate. Zander picked out the cucumbers and chunks of feta, but at least he didn’t sit there and scrape every bit of bulgur off before eating them. I would totally make this again for a multitude of reasons. I would make this for company, and I would also make this just to have in the fridge for lunches for a few days. I did make the mistake of making just half of the recipe, because I wasn’t sure how it would go over. Now I’m wishing I’d made the full one, as there is about one serving left in the fridge for a nice lunch.
Make this. It’s delicious. I’m going to put the recipe as written from the magazine. Do the draining steps or not- I skipped all of them and didn’t regret it. I also skipped the olive oil drizzle at the end- it truly didn’t need anything else, and it was so light and fluffy, I thought the oil would weigh it down and make it a little heavy.
Tabbouleh with Chickpeas
from Eating Well Magazine, August 2013
1 1/2 cups bulgur 3 cups boiling water 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided 1 1/2 cups diced seeded peeled cucumber 2 cups diced tomatoes 1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed 1 1/2 cups chopped flat leaf parsley 1/2 cup chopped fresh mint 1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions 5 tablespoons lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted and ground 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon Freshly ground pepper to taste 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 cup crumbled feta cheeseDirections:
Place bulgur in a large bowl and pour boiling water over it. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon salt, cover and let stand for 30 minutes. Drain through a fine sieve, pressing down firmly on the back of a spoon to squeeze out excess moisture. Return to bowl and let cool.
Meanwhile, toss cucumber in a bowl with 1/2 teaspoon salt and let stand for at least 45 minutes. Rinse, then drain in a sieve, pressing to extract excess water. Transfer to the bowl with the bulgur. Place tomatoes in a sieve and let drain for a few minutes.
Add the tomatoes to the bulgur and cucumber along with the chickpeas, parsley, mint, scallions, lemon juice, cumin, cinnamon, the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt and black pepper to taste. Refrigerate for about 1 hour to allow flavors to develop.
Add oil to the tabbouleh and toss gently. Serve with feta.