Tabbouleh

I mentioned on this blog once before about how delicious tabbouleh is.  It is a really great Middle Easterm salad, that is super easy to make and so good for you.  Bulghur is a good source of protein, iron, and fiber, and doesn't need to be cooked.  It is made similar to couscous. Lemon and parsley are excellent cleansing foods.  I eat it with chickpeas, hummus and pita, and sometimes feta cheese.

Here is my recipe:
1 bunch of parsley, cleaned and dry, chopped
1/4 cup of chopped mint
1/2 large tomato, chopped with the seeds out
1 persian cucumber chopped with skin and seeds
1/4 of a red onion, chopped small, or two chopped scallions
1 lemon
1/2 cup of bulghur
1/4 to 1/3 cup of olive oil, depending on your liking
1/2 tsp of sumac
salt and pepper to taste

Place the bulghur in a bowl and squeeze the juice of half of a lemon.  Pour 1/2 cup of boiling water on top nd let it sit until it is all absorbed.  While the bulghur is being absorbed by the water and lemon, in another bowl combine all vegetables and herbs.  When the bulghur is absorbed, add everything together, including the olive oil, sumac, the juice of the other half of the lemon, and salt and pepper. You can add more lemon if you like.

A few notes...if you don't have sumac, it's ok to omit it.  It adds a bit of lemony taste.  If you don't have persian cucumbers, just take the skin off and the seeds out before chopping.  Scallions are good to use instead of onion if you just want a mild onion taste. This is best after it has been sitting in the refrigerator for a few hours and has had time to aborb the flavors.