Salads Part I
Parsley, Tomato, Bulgar Wheat Salad
(Tabbouleh)

Parsley, garden ripened tomatoes, and bulgar wheat make a simple, refreshing, delicious salad.  You will enjoy it a lot.  It is so tasty it will lift your spirits.

1.5 cups of fresh, ripe, garden tomatoes - 3 medium tomatoes
1/2 cup bulgar wheat
1 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons finely diced sweet onion, such as Vidalia 
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint
1/6 cup fresh lemon juice
1/6 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt

You can find bulgar wheat (also called bulgur and burghul) at a health food store, many grocery stores, or the health food section of a grocery store.  

   
The first thing to do is soak 1/2 cup of bulgar wheat in water.  Heat 1 cup of water for 2 minutes in the microware and pour over the wheat.  Let it soak for at least 10 minutes - it can soak longer -  while you cut up the tomatoes and parsley.

Cut 3 medium size tomatoes into 1/4" chunks.  Place in a mixing bowl.  Chop enough parsley, flat leaf preferred, to get one cup.  Dice enough onion to get 2 tablespoons. Chop enough fresh mint to get 2 tablespoons.  Add to bowl.

See our discussion of Cold Tomato Pasta for dicing technique for tomatoes and onion.

Now you need to drain the crushed wheat. Pour it into a coarse linen napkin or cheese cloth laid out in a colander, pull up the edges of the cloth and twist them, enclosing the crushed wheat; then squeeze the enclosed crushed wheat to remove the moisture.

Put the cracked wheat in the bowl with the tomatoes, parsley, and onions.  Ream a lemon to get 1/6 cup, and add to bowl.  Grind enough sea salt into a ramekin to get 1 teaspoon; and add to bowl.  Toss all items in bowl with a fork.  Now stir in 1/6 cup of extra virgin olive oil and add the mint. Taste it; add more salt if desired.

Serve in a ramekin or on a salad plate.

You can also spoon some on a bed of romaine lettuce if you so desire.
Serves 6

Variations:
1.  Add a clove of minced garlic.
2.  Add some chopped Mediterranean black olives.
3.  For a juicer salad, double the lemon juice to 1/3 cup and the olive oil to 1/3 cup.
4.  For a main course bread salad, make a double recipe, using 2/3 cup lemon juice and 2/3 cup olive oil, and add to it several pieces of good quality rustic French bread, cut into medium size chunks.