‘Mise en place’ a French term that translates to “everything ready and in its place”, one must carefully sort and assemble equipment & ingredients in the recipe, as many components are required to prepare this salad.

Being more organized helps one to save time and avoid mistakes.

There are 3 steps that need to be followed to prepare and cook this dish, they are:

1. Collecting equipment

2. Collecting ingredients as listed

3. Preparing ingredients in the manner prescribed

To produce Tabbouleh, it is essential to have the right equipment, for example the green color-coded chopping board and knife is required to prevent cross contamination to reduce the risk of getting a bacterial infection.

You will also require a saucepan to sweat the vegetables to evaporate any excess liquid.

Tip: Wash the parsley at least twice to clean off the sand and dry properly before chopping

Following are the equipment needed to produce the dish:

It is essential to use fresh herbs along with the dried fruit and nuts to get a dish with a balanced flavor.

Tabbouleh is known for its sharp tangy flavor, from the parsley and lemon juice. However this Modern Tabbouleh has a sour-sweet flavor to it, the sour comes from the cherry tomatoes and Lemon juice and the sweetness comes from the Medjool date.

The toasted pine nuts bring the element of texture and balances the flavors

For traditional Tabbouleh, Parsley, Mint, Tomato, Onion, Burgul and Lemon must be used. The quantity of burgul, mint and onion must be decreased and parsley increased, to make a vibrant green salad.

For knowledge of what you should essentially have in the kitchen, make sure to check out the Kitchen Staples section

Tip: If sweet and sour is not to your liking, do not add the Medjool date.

Following are the ingredients needed to produce the dish:

For the Tabbouleh:

For the Dressing:

To Garnish:

It is important to prepare your ingredients in an organized flow, to achieve a successful outcome of the dish. Even though this is a simple salad, the ingredients need to be measured out for each of the components in the dish, to get the right proportions.

Tabbouleh is all about the chopping of the ingredients!

Tip: Parsley needs to be carefully cut, so it does not bruise and turn black. Using a very sharp knife will give the best result.

Illustrated here are the methods used to prepare the ingredients for this recipe:

To produce this Modern Tabbouleh you will need to sweat the shallots to extract the sweetness, while the burgul is boiled and simmered to soften it.

Finally, all the ingredients are tossed together with lemon juice that gives the tang.

Illustrated here are the cooking/preparation techniques used in this recipe:

The Tabbouleh can be presented in the middle of a leaf of lettuce on a white plate to give nice visual appeal because of the contrast between the green and the white.

Another way of presenting Tabbouleh is by placing the salad in the middle of a serving dish and drizzling the toasted pine nuts on top.

 

Raw Ingredients

Ingredients such as mint, parsley, chives, yellow cherry tomatoes and red cherry tomatoes should be stored in the fridge and can be stored for up to 3 days to one week. On the other hand the, dried figs, Medjool date, bulgur should be stored in airtight containers, away from moisture in a dry place and can be stored for up to 6 months.

Cooked Ingredients

Cooked Tabbouleh should be stored in a lidded container in the fridge and can be stored for up to 2 days.

Leftover

Left over salad never stores well, as the leaves wilt and deterioration sets in. However, keeping leftover Tabbouleh in a lidded container, in the fridge, for the next immediate meal is possible.

Ingredients

Modern Tabbouleh	Yield : 4 Portions
Ingredients	Quantity
Olive oil	3 tbsp
Shallot (finely chopped)	3 pieces
Brown bulgur	1/2 cup
Water	2 cups
Pine nuts (toasted)	3 tbsp
Yellow bell pepper(diced)	2 tbsp
Red bell pepper(diced)	2 tbsp
Dried figs (diced)	4 tbsp
Medjool date(pitted, diced)	4 tbsp
Mint(chopped)	1 tbsp
Parsley	8 tbsp
Chives(chopped)	3 tbsp
Yellow cherry tomatoes (halved)	10 pieces
Red cherry tomatoes (halved)	10 pieces
Cayenne pepper	1 tsp
Salt	as required
For Dressing
Olive oil	6 tbsp
Lemon (juice)	8 tbsp
For Garnish
Mint/Parsley	as required
Cumin seeds (toasted)	1 tsp

Method

1. In a sauce pan, sweat shallots in olive oil, add Burgul and cook for 2 minutes, add water and salt, bring to boil and simmer until liquid is absorbed (12-15 minutes) Fluff with a fork and let cool.

2. Mix the lemon juice with olive oil, cayenne pepper and season with salt to make the dressing.

3. Toss the dressing with the cooked burgul till well coated.

4. Add the rest of the ingredients and toss.

5. Top with toasted cumin seeds, parsley and mint.

6. Serve chilled.