This is great party dish because it looks glamorous scattered with herbs, vegetables or edible flowers. The traditional Lebanese bulgar wheat gives an earthy quality, balanced by refreshing mint and lemon. When my different coloured Heritage tomatoes are at their best, I use tabbouleh as the base for a tomato treat, with raw and cooked tomatoes, often stuffed with herbs.
Preparation: 20 mins, plus soaking
Serves 4
115g/4oz/⅔ cup bulgar wheat
6 spring onions/scallions, chopped
1kg/2lb 4oz tomatoes, skinned, deseeded and chopped (see page 24), about 400g/14oz prepared weight
a large pinch of allspice
4 tbsp chopped parsley leaves
6 tbsp finely chopped mint leaves
90–120ml/3–4fl oz/⅓–½ cup olive oil
4 tbsp lemon juice
2 handfuls of edible flowers, such as marigold, thyme, marjoram, dandelion, bergamot, borage, heartsease or nasturtium, washed
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
cooked vine leaves or raw lettuce leaves, to serve
Soak the bulgar in a large bowl of water for 30 minutes – it expands a lot. Drain and squeeze out the water with your hands, then spread out to dry on a dish towel.
When ready, mix in all the ingredients very well and scatter with the edible flowers. Season with salt and pepper. The tabbouleh can be served with whole lettuce leaves or cooked vine leaves, which can be used to scoop up the tabbouleh.