Crunchy root vegetable tabbouleh for winter
A great solution for the cold months when the shops are full of lovely roots and you crave something light, fresh and brightly-flavored after weeks of eating cooked winter dishes.
1 lemon
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp za’atar, plus 1 tsp for garnish
¼ head of celeriac, peeled (about 3½oz/100g)
1 small carrot, peeled
1 small bunch of radishes (about 10 radishes)
4–5 sprigs of parsley, picked
Generous 1 cup/150g cooked bulgar wheat (see method here)
To make the dressing, zest the lemon and then juice it. Mix with the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of za’atar. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Cut the celeriac and carrot into thin matchsticks. This is really easy to do using one of those vegetable peelers with teeth that seem to be available everywhere now—you just run the peeler over it and you are ready to go. Alternatively do it the old-fashioned way—slowly with a knife. Slice the radish thinly into rounds. Mix the celeriac, carrot, radish and parsley leaves together in a bowl. You can prepare this a few hours in advance and store it in the fridge until needed.
When you are ready to serve, add the cooked bulgar wheat and the dressing to the vegetables and stir to combine. Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle with the remaining za’atar. Serve straight away.
Green tabbouleh salad for spring
This is the closest to original tabbouleh salad. The dominant flavors are herby and green, and the taste of the olive oil should really shine through, so use the good stuff here.
1 Lebanese cucumber or ½ large cucumber
2 spring onions, finely chopped
½ cup/70g cooked bulgar wheat (see method here; use ¼ cup/35g raw)
1 bunch of parsley, roughly chopped (about ½–¾ cup)
4 sprigs of mint, picked and chopped (2 tbsp)
½ tsp salt
2–3 tbsp best quality olive oil
juice of ½–1 lemon (1–2 tbsp)
I like to keep the skin on the cucumber, and if you can get hold of a Lebanese one, you can chop the whole thing into dice (as small as you can). If you can only get a European long cucumber, it is best to halve it lengthways then scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon and discard before dicing, as otherwise they make the salad too wet.
Mix everything together as close to eating as possible for the best flavor and to stop it going soggy. I recommend that you just add the juice of half the lemon to begin with and taste to see what you think. We love this sharp and would always add more lemon, but you may find that this is enough for you.
Couscous & chickpeas in ras el hanut spice
Bland couscous usually gets its flavor from a strong broth—it soaks up all the juices from the meat and vegetables and it becomes a meal. This recipe is a bit of a short cut as the flavor is already in the couscous, so it needs nothing else. It also makes a great store cupboard supper if you use normally-forbidden tinned chickpeas.
Enough for 6–8 as part of a mezze selection, or 2 as a light supper
½ small onion, peeled and finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
generous 1 tbsp olive oil
1 heaped tsp salt
1 heaped tbsp ras el hanut spice mix
heaping ½ cup/100g cooked chickpeas (from ¼ cup/40g dried—see method here; or used tinned)
1 tomato, diced
⅓ cup/60g couscous
¾ cup/180ml boiling water
1 small bunch of cilantro, chopped (about ½–¾ cup/15–20g)
Fry the onion and garlic with the oil in a frying pan on a medium heat for about 5 minutes until they get a little color and soften. Add the salt and ras el hanut and mix well for about 20 seconds to release the flavors. Tip in the chickpeas and tomato dice and cook for a further minute. Add the couscous and boiling water, bring to the boil, then turn the heat off and cover. Allow the couscous to absorb the liquid for 10 minutes, then remove the lid and use a fork to loosen the mass and mix in the chopped cilantro. It is now ready to serve.
If we are eating this as a light supper, we like to fry or poach an egg and pop it on top, allowing the yolk to ooze into the couscous. Alternatively you could serve this alongside a piece of grilled chicken or fish.
Kisir
This Turkish canapé is made usually with the hot red pepper paste that is very common there and hard to find here. We fake it with a mixture of tomato purée, chili, paprika and pimento (allspice) to good effect, but if you can get your hands on acı biber salçası (ideally from a market in Istanbul), buy it and try this recipe with it instead. We like to serve this wetter version of bulgar salad in small boats of Little Gem lettuce. They add a crisp freshness and are an easy way to serve this as a pre-dinner nibble at a dinner party. If you do this, get some pomegranate seeds to sprinkle over the top.
This makes enough filling for 16–20 small leaves—perfect party food
½ small onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
generous 1 tbsp olive oil
2 heaped tsp paprika
½ tsp ground pimento (allspice)
½ tsp chili flakes
½ tsp salt
⅓ cup/60g bulgar wheat
2½ tbsp tomato purée
2½ tbsp pomegranate molasses
scant 1 cup/240ml boiling water
scant ½ cup/50g roasted walnuts, roughly chopped
1–2 heads of Little Gem lettuce, whole leaves separated and washed
Fry the onion and garlic with the oil in a frying pan on a medium heat until they are soft but not colored (about 4–5 minutes). Sprinkle in the dried spices and salt and mix well for 30 seconds, moving everything around all the time to avoid burning. Then add the bulgar wheat, tomato purée and pomegranate molasses, and stir to coat thoroughly. Now pour in the boiling water. Be careful—it will spit. Stir once, then turn off the heat and cover the pan.
Allow to rest for 10 minutes, then uncover, add the roasted walnuts and mix through a little. Re-cover and keep covered until you are ready to fill each little lettuce leaf with a heaped tablespoonful of the mixture. This will keep, covered, at room temperature for a few hours before serving—don’t refrigerate it, as the cold will affect the flavor and texture.