Tabbouleh is a Levantine vegetarian salad made mostly of finely chopped parsley, with tomatoes, mint, onion, bulgur, and seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and sweet pepper. Some variations add lettuce, or use semolina instead of bulgur.

This variant is using couscous, which tends to make the salad a little less grainy. It also replaces some of the ingredients like mint by others, and is thus far from the traditional tabbouleh. As I first tasted this in Switzerland, I will give it a vanity name.

Ingredients

Salad for 4 people:

  • Couscous (2 cups)
  • Vegetable bouillon cube
  • Tomatoes (2 – 3)
  • Cucumber (1 large or 2 small)
  • Bell peppers (1 1/2)
  • Onions (1 or 2)
  • Parsley (1)
  • Lemon (2) or lemon juice
  • Salt, pepper, Provencal or Italian herb of your choice
  • Olive oil

Recipe

This recipe explains how to prepare individually each ingredients of the salad. You can do them in parallel as you please. It is best to prepare the tabbouleh a few hours early to let it rest and cool down. The flavors tend to blend better.

  1. Couscous. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Add the vegetable broth cube and dissolve. Take off the fire, add the couscous evenly in the water. Once the water is absorbed, set aside in a large bowl. Preferably put in the fridge for it to cool down.
  2. Cucumber. Peel and cut the cucumber in small cubes. Put into a bowl with generous amount of salt (mixed). The salt will burn the cucumber and cook it. Wait 30 minutes, rinse abundantly in water. Add to the bowl of couscous.
  3. Tomatoes. Rinse and chop the tomatoes in small cubes. Add to the bowl of couscous.
  4. Onions and bell peppers. Chop onions and bell peppers in small pieces (but keep separate). In a pan, add olive oil, salt and pepper, and grill onions (first) and bell peppers until desired (usually a little caramelized). I like to cook onions and bell peppers one after the other to be able to caramelize the onions more. Add to the bowl of couscous.
  5. Parsley: chop the parsley as finely as possible. Add to the bowl of couscous.
  6. Lemon: add the juice of the two lemons to the bowl of couscous.

Add two spoons of olive oil and mix the bowl of couscous with all the ingredients until everything is evenly distributed. Add salt, pepper and herbs as desired. If your salad is cool, it is ready to serve, but do not hesitate to let it rest in the fridge for a few more hours for the flavors to blend better.