Tabouleh Salad

This is a recipe inspired by my good old friend Lisa who also loves food, cooking and exotic spices. Best dishes that we made together will always be our steaming Curry's, we have pictures where we look like brewing witches over their cauldron :)

This recipe however, we made about 5 years ago together with her friends while watching "Germany's next Topmodel". Here I learned that you eat Tabouleh salad originally on a leaf of lettuce. How exciting :)

Ingredients

• 2 cups bulgur (medium grain)
• 2 cups of chicken or vegetable bouillon
• 1 bunch fresh parsley - finely chopped
• 2 tablespoon freshly chopped mint
• 4 green onions - sliced
• 1 pint cocktail tomatoes - cubed (or quartered)
• 1 cucumber - peeled and cubed
• 1/4 of a red bell pepper - cubed
• juice of 1-2 lemons
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste

• Serve with: lettuce, pita bread and tzatziki

Preparation

First, prepare the bulgur. Bring chicken or vegetable stock to a boil, then add the bulgur, cover the pot and remove from heat. Let stand and soak for 30 minutes. Then use a fork to fluff up the bulgur. I am using chicken or vegetable stock, because it gives the bulgur already some flavor. You can also already prepare the dressing and let it soak in the cold dressing for 1-2 hours. Bulgur is actually already par boiled, this means it was already boiled before it was dried. Therefore, you can let it soak in cold dressing or even cold water. However, I do like it very soft, therefore I let it soak in boiling hot bouillon.
Next, prepare the vegetables and herbs. Finely chop the parsley and the mint leaves. Best to use flat-leave parsley. You can also use the curly parsley as I did, you will notice the pieces a little bit stronger in the salad. Slice the green onion and dice the tomatoes, cucumber and bell pepper. Add everything to the bulgur and mix.
Last, prepare the dressing. In a separate bowl, mix the juice of the lemon, the olive oil and vinegar. Add salt and pepper. Pour over the bulgur mix and stir. Let soak for a little bit. Best to keep a little extra dressing to add directly when serving.

Serve the tabouleh salad on lettuce. It also tastes good with a side of tzatziki and pita bread.