Tabbouleh Salad Recipe

Hey there, fellow food enthusiasts! Today, we’re going to whip up a delightful and refreshing tabbouleh salad that’s not only simple to make but also bursting with flavour. And guess what? We’ll be using cous cous for this one, which is perfect because it’s such a breeze to cook. You can practically leave it to do its thing while you multitask and get other stuff done.

For our cous cous, I’m using the quick cook, 5-minute variety. It’s the most common type you’ll find in stores these days, and it works like a charm. To get started, take 300g or 2 cups of cous-cous and toss it into a mixing bowl. Add a pinch of salt and a generous glug of extra virgin olive oil. Now, make sure you mix it thoroughly, coating each grain with the oil. This step is essential to avoid clumpy cous cous after cooking. Trust me, no one wants that!

Next, pour some boiling water over the cous cous until it’s sitting just above the surface. Give the bowl a good shake or stir to ensure there are no dry patches. The last thing we want is a mouthful of sandy, uncooked cous-cous, right? Once that’s done, cover the bowl with a lid and let it steam for a good 20 minutes.

While our cous-cous is getting all nice and fluffy, let’s move on to the other half of our salad. First up, the cucumber. Slice it in half lengthways and scoop out the seeds. You can save those little seeds for a drink or smoothie if you fancy. Then, slice each half into long thin strips. I like to go pretty fine with this salad, so I usually cut each half into eight strips, but feel free to adjust to your preference.

Gather the strips of cucumber and dice them up finely. Now, onto the tomatoes. Grab five Roma tomatoes, quarter them, and remove the seeds. We don’t want too much moisture in our tabbouleh; otherwise, it’ll become all soggy. Slice the tomatoes into strips and then chop them up into a fine dice, similar to the cucumber.

Now, let’s tackle the onion. Take one medium red onion, peel off the papery layer and the first layer of flesh. That part is generally dry and leathery, so it’s best reserved for a stock. Dice the onion finely, matching the size of the cucumber and tomato pieces.

Next up, it’s time for the fresh herbs! I’ve got a lovely bunch of parsley here. Though I prefer curly parsley, flat-leaf works just fine too. Remove the leaves from the stems, and some of the younger top stems close to the leaves are also welcome in the salad. Take manageable bunches of parsley and roll them up tightly. Then, chop through the rolled parsley, adjusting your grip and gathering any loose leaves along the way.

Grab around 30 mint leaves, making sure you remove them from the stalks completely. Pile the mint leaves on top of each other and gently roll them up into a mint cigar. Carefully slice the mint into fine slivers, turning it 90 degrees and chopping some more until it’s just the right size.

By this point, our cous cous should be ready to go. If you mixed in the oil well before cooking, you should have fluffy, clump-free cous cous, just like the kind we want for this salad. Spread it out to cool for a few minutes.

Now, let’s bring it all together! A classic tabbouleh salad should have at least an equal ratio of cous cous to veggies and herbs. Mine leans a bit more toward the veggie and herb side, around 60% to 40% cous cous. Of course, you can always adjust it to suit your taste and preference.

There you have it, folks – a fantastic and versatile tabbouleh salad with cous cous. Remember, if cous cous isn’t your thing, you can try bulgur wheat, millet, or quinoa for a gluten-free option. So go ahead, get creative, and enjoy your refreshing and scrumptious tabbouleh salad in your style!

Yield: 4-6 Portions

Tabbouleh Salad Recipe

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Learn how to make this authentic tabbouleh salad recipe. This recipe is super fresh and vibrant, its had cucumber, tomato, lemon, finely diced red onion, loads of parsley, a little mint and of course olive oil.

You can use quinoa, bulgar wheat or millet instead of the cous-cous and you can customize this salad however you like.

Prep Time 20 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 300g / 2 cups cous cous (could also be bulgar wheat or quinoa)
• 1 large bunch of parsley
• 30 mint leaves
• 1 x cucumber
• 1 x medium red onion or 1/2 a large one
• 5/6 tomatoes
• 1-3 lemons juiced
• Olive oil
• Salt to taste

Instructions

1. Place the cous cous in a bowl, add a pinch of salt, a good drizzle of olive oil and mix well so each grain is coated in oil.
2. Pour enough boiling water over the cous cous to just cover it.  Place a lid on and leave it to sit for 20 minutes.
3. Whilst you’re waiting for that to cook finely chop all the herbs and vegetables, De-seed the cucumber of tomatoes so the tabbouleh doesn’t come out too wet in the end.
4. Once the cous cous is ready, fluff it up with a fork, let it cool then add all the chopped vegetables and herbs, mix well, taste for seasoning a serve.