Healthy Harissa Tabbouleh Salad




We had our first “customer complaint” from a top fan… my sister Anna. 😁 Apparently, she is worried that all our delicious recipes (that she is dutifully making after reading our posts) are not very good for her waistline: Bagels, muffins, Swedish lent buns, apple crumble, waffles… OK, I get it! Too much carbs and sugar. 😱 And since she has in recent years become sort of my wise, spiritual health-fitness guru and “witch” doctor, even though she is three years younger than me, I’ve made an executive decision: This week is going to be “healthy recipes week”. Caroline and Pia, I hope you’re on board with that! 😊

For that reason, I am sharing with you a tabbouleh salad recipe that I picked up from one of my favorite TV celebrity chefs: Siba Mtongana @sibamtongana from South Africa. Tabbouleh is an Eastern Mediterranean vegetarian salad and is traditionally served as a mezze in the Middle East. It is so, so good, as well as quick and easy to make. It is also an ideal dish as we are entering a warmer season (at least here in Portugal).

FYI, in Siba’s original recipe she adds 25g of flaked, toasted almonds to sprinkle on top. I usually skip that part, but definitely add it if you feel like it. I would also suggest adding more Harissa paste to the dressing. I can’t unfortunately, because my strong, bullfighter husband can’t take the heat.🌶 


Ingredients                                                                              

-       ½ cup uncooked bulgur wheat, cooked and cooled

-       200 g cherry tomatoes, quartered lengthways

-       ½ red onion, very thinly sliced

-       2 spring onions, including the green part, chopped

-       ½ red bell pepper, diced

-       ½ cucumber, cored to removed softer parts and diced

-       2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

-       1 tablespoon fresh mint, chopped

-       ½ teaspoon dried spearmint

-       Dressing:

o   ½ teaspoon good quality harissa paste

o   1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

o   Juice of ¼ lemon

o   ½ teaspoon sugar

o   A pinch of sea salt

o   A pinch of freshly ground black pepper




Method:

1.     Bring 1 cup of salted water to a boil, add ½ cup of bulgur wheat, bring it to boil, get the lid on and simmer for 10-15 minutes (the water evaporates). Then take off lid and stir and set aside to cool.




2.     Make the dressing: mix together the harissa, olive oil, lemon juice, sugar, salt and pepper.

3.     Prepare the vegetables and herbs and add to a bowl: quarter the tomatoes, slice the red onion, chop the spring onions, dice the bell pepper, dice the cucumber, chop the herbs and add the dried mint.




4.     Add the now cooked and cooled bulgur wheat to the vegetables and mix.

5.     Drizzle over the dressing and toss to combine again.



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