Tabbouleh Salad with Chickpeas

I can't believe we're coming to the end of August. Soon, schools will reopen, traffic will build up and the weather will begin to get cooler. I can't say I'm not relieved. It was a hard summer of trying to entertain a spritely three year old indoors and fending off questions about why we won't be going to the beach in the near foreseeable future.

I am so ready for the new school year to start. For Maryam, it will be a new school, a new environment, new friends and lots of new adventures. I am so excited for her and so is she. We are both looking forward to this new journey and settling into a routine.

Routine. Something I thrive on. Something that has been missing on this blog of late. My intention was always to blog once a week but it seems I have been apologetic on numerous occasions for not being able to as often as I'd like. I do think about it often though and have a whole notepad  full of ideas and recipes begging to be tried. 

But today I bring you something that I've been making for the past five years. That's right- five. I'm surprised I haven't blogged about it before. This tabbouleh was one of the very first Middle Eastern dishes I learnt to imitate when I first moved to Dubai.

The abundance of parsley and torn specks of mint  not only make it vibrant but the perfect palate cleanser when paired with meats and poultry. Recently I have been eating it on its own as lunch and to make it a bit more hearty and satisfying, I added chickpeas (you can omit this if you wish to be more authentic).

On a separate note, I have finally joined Pinterest, although sometimes I almost wish I hadn't! So many beautiful things like this ceramic cake stand. And wouldn't you want to live in this house? Oh and I'll definitely be making this cake soon.

Tabbouleh Salad with Chickpeas

Ingredients:

1/2 cup fine burghul (cracked wheat)

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

2 cups finely chopped parsley

1/2 cup chickpeas

1 tomato, finely chopped

few torn sprigs of mint

Dressing:

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

3 tbs lemon juice

1 clove garlic, crushed

salt to taste

Directions:

To make the dressing, add all the ingredients to a jar and shake vigorously. Set aside until ready to serve.

Add the lemon juice to the burghul and let it sit for ten minutes. Use a fork to separate the burghul. In a bowl, put in all the salad ingredients including the burghul. Drizzle the dressing and serve immediately.

Serves 4.

Note: Make sure the parsley is completely dry before chopping (do not use the stalks). Chop with a knife and do not use a food processor as this will bruise the herb.