Tabbouleh

Season: 

Type: Salads

Difficulty:  Easy

Serves:  6 at home or 30 tastes in the classroom

Fresh from the garden:  tomatoes, cucumbers, spring onions, garlic, parsley, mint, lemons

Recipe source: Adapted from Stephanie Alexander’s Kitchen Garden Cooking with Kids

Tabbouleh needs plenty of parsley.  When ready to serve, the mixture should look brightly coloured with the red of the tomatoes and the green of the herbs.  Use it to fill pita pocket breads and then add some falafel, lamb burgers or labna balls.

Hint: For a gluten free option use quinoa or brown rice.

• metric measuring spoons & cups
• chopping boards & non-slip mats
• bowls –  1 small, 1 medium
• tablespoon
• colander
• 2 tea towels
• Knives – 1 large, 1 serrated
• peeler
• juicer
• serving bowls

• 1 cup cracked wheat
• 6 tomatoes
• 2 long cucumbers or 4 small
• 4 spring onions
• 2 garlic cloves
• very large bunch parsley
• handful mint leaves
• 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper

• Set out your equipment and ingredients.
• Place the cracked wheat in the medium bowl and cover with cold water. Soak for 10 minutes, then tip into the strainer.  Press out as much liquid as possible with the back of the tablespoon.
• Tip the cracked wheat into one of the tea towels (choose one that’s thick) and roll it like a sausage.  Two people are now needed to each hold one end of the tea-towel sausage and to twist in opposite directions to squeeze even more liquid from the grains.  Rinse and dry the medium bowl, then unwrap the ‘sausage’ and carefully shake the cracked wheat into the bowl.
• Set out the chopping board and knives.  As you chop the following ingredients place them in the bowl with the cracked wheat.  Cut the tomatoes into small dice using the serrated knife.  Peel and dice the cucumber.  Trim the outside layer from the spring onions, cut off their tops and ends, then finely slice the rest.  Peel and finely chop the garlic.
• Rinse the parsley and mint and dry in the second tea towel.  Chop the herbs and add to the other ingredients.  Juice the lemon.  In the small bowl, mix the oil and lemon juice to make a dressing, then add to the medium bowl.
• Mix everything together and taste for salt and pepper.  Spread the herbs evenly throughout.  Transfer the tabouleh to the serving bowls and serve.