I’ve always liked the idea of tabbouleh, but the reality never lived up to my expectations. However, Bid recently mentioned that she never liked it either until she tried a particular recipe that calls for soaking the bulgar in tomato and lemon juice, rather than boiling water. Since I know she tends to be rather particular about what she puts in her mouth (she never, ever eats anything she doesn’t like), I thought I’d give it a try!

The original recipe recommended by Bid was from America’s Test Kitchen. I made a few adjustments, however: I used ALL the juice from the drained tomatoes to soak the bulgar; I added the zest of one lemon (because I am obsessed with lemon zest in everything that calls for lemons); I added a half pound of pickle cukes.

I like this recipe not only for the soaking tip, but also because it calls for only a cup and a half of parsley and a half cup of mint. I know the traditional recipe is meant to contain eight cups of parsely and a full cup of mint to the same amount of bulgar (1/2 cup), but that’s WAY too parsley-forward for my sensibilities.

Anyway, the result is a lovely fresh salad and will be delicious with some pita, hummus, and olives for our evening meal!

Extra-Tasty Tabbouleh

454 grams grape tomatoes, roughly chopped

227 grams English or pickle cucumbers, chopped

½ cup medium-grind bulgur

¼ cup fresh lemon juice, divided

zest of one lemon

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 ½ cups chopped fresh parsley

½ cup chopped fresh mint

2 green onions, thinly sliced

Salt and pepper

Roughly chop tomatoes (I throw them in the food processor and pulse a few times for a rough chop). Toss them with 1/4 teaspoon salt, place in a mesh strainer over a bowl, and let stand for thirty minutes, tossing occasionally.

Rinse bulgur in mesh strainer, drain, and transfer to second bowl. Stir in 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice and all the juice from the tomatoes. Let stand until grains are beginning to soften (about 40 minutes).

Whisk the remaining 2 tablespoons lemon juice, lemon zest, olive oil, cayenne, and 1/4 teaspoon salt together in large bowl. Add drained tomatoes, cucumber, soaked bulgur, parsley, mint, and scallions; toss gently to combine. Cover and let stand at room temperature until flavors have blended and bulgur is tender, about 1 hour. Toss to recombine, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

And though our backyard looks like a complete mess right now, after two-and-a-half months of camping out, our septic system is close to being useable. Mike-the-Septic guy was here over the course of nine days installing a type-three system–apparently, it’s basically a sewage treatment plant. Mike claims the water that eventually emerges from it will be pure enough to drink (though we’ll refrain from trying it thank-you-very-much). We’re now just waiting on Sean-the-Electrician to complete the work, and we’ll be ready to go!

But check out this terrible mess. Mike’s son came to help him on the last day he was here and he said to his son, “This used to be a pretty place!” My heart broke a bit in that moment. Anyway, it has to stay this way until at least April when it will be dry enough for Mike Septic to come back to cover it all with topsoil. After that comes the grass!

And the song of the day is Tom Rosenthal’s very pretty song, “It’s Okay” because it’s just so lovely…