Kids Dish

Hummus, tabouli salad, and pita is a low effort, high protein, healthy meal that’s doesn’t require too much time on a hot summer night. Last night wasn’t as hot as it has been lately, so I threw caution to the wind and fried some falafel to go with it and made a quick tahini sauce. This Middle Eastern feast is easy to make, especially if you cheat and buy a box of falafel mix a bag of pita bread, and a container of hummus like I did. *

Tabouli salad is bulgur (also called cracked wheat) mixed with an olive oil and lemon juice dressing and combined with minced tomato, parsley, scallions, salt and pepper. It tastes best after sitting for a while, so make it the night before, or earlier in the day if you have time. Traditionally it’s scooped up with lettuce or cabbage leaves, but I like it on a pita with falafel, tahini sauce and hummus. It’s also great on its own.

Tabouli Salad

1 cup bulgur
½ cup hot water
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup olive oil
1 small tomato, diced
4 green onions, minced
1 cup fresh parsley, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Soak the bulgur in water with a dash of salt until the water is absorbed, about half an hour. Stir olive oil and lemon juice into the bulgur. If your making the tabouli salad in advance, let the bulgur sit in the dressing for a couple of hours. Add the other ingredients. Add additional lemon juice to taste.

Depending on what you and your family like and have in the pantry, cucumber, mint, avocado and feta cheese can be added at the same time as the chopped vegetables. I’m not generally a fan of cucumbers (or raw tomatoes, for that matter), but I enjoy them in tabouli.

*Ordinarily I make my own hummus and falafel, but sometimes I just don’t feel like going all out. If you, however, feel like going all out, epicurious has excellent recipes for both hummus and falafel. Hummus is especially easy to make. Sally posted a quick recipe recently at Living Without Meat.

easy meals, Middle Eastern Food, tabouli recipe, tabouli salad, no cook meals