TASTY TABBOULEH

My mother has been making tabbouleh for as long as I can remember. The long painstaking process of picking the parsley so that there were no stems whatsoever was lost on me. I recall it taking hours and my mother complaining the whole time. However, when she served that tabbouleh on the dinner table all six of us ate every last scrap on our plates. An ingenious way to make four children under 8 years of age eat their vegetables! 


Now my mothers recipe is so extensive that you want to pull your hair out and just give up. As a result, I have lasted over 23 years without ever making this dish, even though it is one of my favourite childhood meals. Browsing the Women's Weekly World Table cookbook this week I came across an easier version of the recipe. I knew it was time to face my fears and try my hand at making this Middle Eastern dish. 


Ingredients 

• 1/4 cup (40g) bourghal 
• I like to use NatureFirst Premium Fine Grit Bourghal (available in the Health Aisle at Coles). 
• 3 medium tomatoes (450g)
• 3 cups coarsely chopped fresh parsley (preferably flat-leaf)
• 3 green onions (scallions), chopped finely 
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh mint 
• I omitted this as I am not a mint fan and my mother never used mint. But to each his/her own!
• 1/4 cup (60ml) lemon juice
• 1/8 to 1/4 cup (60ml) olive oil 
• The recipe calls for 1/4 cup, however in my attempts to make this recipe a little healthier I used around 40ml or so of olive oil, so a little more that 1/8 of a cup. Once again, completely your call.

Cooking 

1. The most painstaking process of this recipe (to me) is to pick the parsley off their stems. To make 3 cups of coarsely chopped parsley this is a big task. My advice; have fun with it. You do not need to pick the parsley with 100% precision (sorry dear mother). If a little bit of a stem goes in there, the world does not end. All will be well. Another piece of advice; engage someone to help you. I choose to employ my younger sister as a parsley slave. It took half the time and we had a bit of fun. 

2. After you have picked the parsley (about 3 1/2- 4 cups) coarsely chop the parsley with a sharp knife to make 3 cups. Once again, there is no need to be 100% perfect. 

3. Place bourghal in a medium shallow bowl. Halve the tomatoes (I quartered them) and scoop pulp from tomatoes over bourghal. Chop tomato flesh finely and spread over bourghal. Mix well; cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. 

4. Add remaining ingredients to bourghal mixture; toss gently to combine. 

My experience making this dish was so pleasant and uncomplicated that I made it again 2 days later. Give it a try, you won't be disappointed. The fresh ingredients taste divine. 

Preparation & cooking time- 30 minutes (plus refrigeration time) 

Serves 4

Nutritional value per serving: 14.1 total fat (or less if you use less olive oil) / 790 kJ (189 calories) / 9.2g carbohydrate / 3.4g protein / 5.6g fibre. 

xx E