As you might have seen last week in my vegan food diary last week, I try to follow a whole-foods vegan diet as much as I can. To ensure this, I use the daily dozen checklist from Micheal Gregor. The daily dozen tells what you should eat on a daily basis. I must say, I am not perfect. But, I am getting better each year. Sometimes I find recipes that help me with this journey. Whole-foods, vegan recipes. Today I’m sharing one of those recipes I eat regularly. Here’s the recipe for the Lebanese Tabbouleh that I love to make.
The Ingredients
- One whole romaine lettuce
- About half the amount of the romaine lettuce in fresh parsley
- 6 whole spring onions
- 6 big vine tomatoes
- 100 grams of very fine bulgur
- 1 tablespoon of citric acid (maybe you could use fresh lemons as well, I have never tried myself)
- 1 tablespoon of dried mint
- 3 tablespoons of paprika puree
- 2 tablespoons of water
Preparation
This recipe needs time to sit. It’s best if you make it 24 hours in advance, but a few hours is okay as well. You just cut all the fresh ingredients first: the romaine lettuce, the fresh parsley, the spring onions and the vine tomatoes. The lettuce goes in small slices. The parsley should be cut really fine, so as the spring onions. The tomatoes go into small blocks. Put all these ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.
Then the rest of the ingredients. You mix these as well, in a separate bowl. First grab the fine bulgur and add the citric acid and dried mint to it. Blend. Then you add the paprika puree, making the mixture a paste. Add about three tablespoons of water to this paste and mix.
Add both the mixtures together and make sure to blend really well. Put in the fridge and it’s ready to eat after a few hours (but like I said, it’s best if you let it sit for 24 hours).
Original Tabbouleh recipe?
I learned how to make this recipe from my stepfather, who is from Lebanon. He moved to the Netherlands when he was quite young though. So, for some people this Tabbouleh might not be what some people have in mind when they think of Tabbouleh. I have seen many different recipes, I have even done a Lebanese cooking class, in which I was taught a different recipe. I personally like this recipe best. Maybe because I grew up with it, or maybe because I use this one all the time. I don’t mean to say that this is the best and original recipe. I just love this one. But do whatever floats your boat.
Whole-foods, vegan and organic
As you can tell, this recipe is entirely vegan. And almost all of the ingredients that I listed can be bought organic, except for the citric acid. However, I choose to always buy the bulgur and paprika paste non-organic. That’s because I have been taught to use certain brand from the local Toko and I haven’t dared to so switch to something else. I haven’t found organic, really fine bulgur yet. But the paprika puree might be worth a try, I am sure I can find an organic brand somewhere. I also think this recipe is whole-foods, except for the citric acid. In a sense, this is just herb as well, so maybe you can call it whole-foods. It doesn’t feel 100-% whole-foods to me though, so I might just experiment in the future with using organic lemons.
What kind of dish
I honestly think this Tabbouleh recipe, like most salads, can be used for any type of meal, for any part of the day. You can have it for breakfast or lunch, or during dinner. We often use it as a side-dish when we barbecue, but I’ve eaten it as a main dish as well. Do whatevery you like haha.
Sidenote: the pictures I took are not the best. I know that. I just like to keep things realistic. This is what the tabbouleh looks like when I eat it. Maybe I’ll take better pictures another time, maybe not. For now, I just liked to share the recipe already.
Yours sincerely,
Romee