Warm Wheat Salad: Reverse Tabbouleh

Faith Durand

Warm Wheat Salad: Reverse Tabboulehs

I'm a big fan of the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern parsley salad tabbouleh and make it frequently. But it's a little chilly for cold salads, so I invented something new: reverse tabbouleh!

At least, I like to think it's new; it's probably as old as the hills. Something so simple must have been made a thousand times over, right? Well, it was new to me, and it was delicious.

Why is this reverse tabbouleh? Tabbouleh, for all you tabbouleh purists out there, is a very parsley-intensive dish. It should NOT be a grain salad with parsley attached. No, it's a parsley salad (so sweet, juicy, fragrant) with bits of softened bulgur wheat to plump it up and round it out. The version here is mostly wheat, softened in water then pan-fried. In addition, tabbouleh is usually served cold; this dish is hot.

It's also very easy to make. I just plumped up a great deal of bulgur wheat (found in your bulk food section for literally pennies) and left it in the fridge overnight with a little chopped parsley, fresh cucumber chunks, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and olive oil. Then I dumped it in a pan the next day, fried it up, and added chunks of salty goat feta and some tomatoes.

The vegetables did not overwhelm the hot wheat; instead they made it a juicy, savory, salty little grain dish suitable for vegetarians (and vegans, hold the cheese) alike.

And one more note: using just a bit of really good, local feta cheese made this dish wonderful. It soaked all through, and the cheese got warm and tender. Just one more way to use fresh, local ingredients.

WARM WHEAT SALAD (REVERSE TABBOULEH)

Serves two as a main dish or four as a side.

1 cup bulgur wheat

2 cups boiling water

1/2 red onion

3 cloves garlic

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and minced

1/2 cup chopped Italian (flat-leaf) parsley

1/4 cup mint leaves

Juice of two lemons (about 1/2 cup)

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 large tomato, seeded and minced fine

2 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

Put the bulgur wheat in a large bowl. Pour the boiling water over it and cover.

Finely chop the onion, garlic, cucumber, parsley and mint, discarding any large stems and stalks. Juice the lemons and add their juice to the wheat, along with the chopped vegetables and herbs, olive oil, and salt and pepper. Cover and return to the fridge for at least an hour, ideally overnight.

Peel, seed, and mince the tomato. Heat a little olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Saute the wheat mixture until hot and steaming. Add feta and cook just until hot. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary. Serve immediately, with the tomato sprinkled on top of each serving.

Faith Durand is managing editor of TheKitchn.com, a nationally known blog for people who love food and home cooking.

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Warm Wheat Salad: Reverse Tabboulehs - Recipe

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