Tabbouleh

Tabbouleh (or tabouli) is a Middle Eastern salad made of bulgur, fresh vegetables, olive oil and spices.  This is a terrific salad to keep in the refrigerator.  It will keep well for several days.  I’ve also added chopped green or yellow peppers to this recipe.  Feel free to experiment and add other fresh veggies as well.  For an extra kick, add ¼ teaspoon recipe cumin to the recipe. 1 cup          bulgur 2 cups        boiling water 3                tomatoes, seeded and diced 1                cucumber, seeded and diced 3                green onions, sliced 1 clove       garlic, minced 1 cup          chopped fresh parsley ½ cup         chopped fresh mint ¼ cup         fresh lemon juice* ¼ cup         olive oil In a large bowl, pour boiling water over bulgur.  Cover and allow bulgur to absorb water for 30 minutes.  At the end of 30 minutes, drain any remaining water.  In the mean time, prepare remaining ingredients.  Add remaining ingredients to prepared bulgur and toss.  Cover and chill for at least 4 hours before serving.

* Tip:  Buying a large bag of lemons or limes may be a very economical choice, but only if you don’t throw most of it away because you couldn’t figure out what to do with it.  When you purchase a large quantity of lemons or limes because you need the juice for a recipe, take the time to juice all (or most) of them.  Freeze the juice in ice cube trays over night.  When the cubes are frozen through, pop them into a labeled reclosable bag and keep in the freezer.  When a recipe calls for fresh juice, take out the required amount and thaw.