Tabboulet shitta- Winter tabbouli with orange and fennel
Delicious herby and sweet winter tabbouli from Reem Assil's beautiful cookbook Arabiyya.
Equipment
- Small bowl
- Zester I like a fine microplane
- cutting board
- Sharp knife
- Large bowl
- Fine mesh strainer or a clean cloth
Ingredients
- 1/3 C fine bulgur
- 2 medium oranges
- 1 small fennel bulb cut into small dices, reserve the fronds for garnish
- 1/2 red onion finely chopped
- 1 1/2 C parsley about 1 1/2 bunches, finely chopped (see instructions)
- 1 C mint about 1 bunch, finely chopped (see instructions)
- 2 lemons
- 1/4 C extra virgin olive oil the best you can afford
- 1 T pomegranate molasses
- 2 cloves garlic finely minced (not pressed)
- 1 t sumac plus a pinch for garnish
- 1 t salt more to taste
- 1/2 t black pepper freshly ground, more to taste
- 4 heads little gem lettuce or 1 head romaine
Instructions
- In a small bowl, cover 1/3 C of bulgur with hot water and set aside for 15 minutes until doubled in size.
- In the meantime, zest 2 oranges and set aside the zest for garnish.
- Peel the oranges, using a sharp knife to cut away the peels. I like to top and tail the oranges so you can see where the pith runs and peel straight to the flesh.
- Cut out the segments of orange with your knife, cut into bite-sized pieces and place into a large bowl.
- To finely cut 1 1/2 bunches of parsley and 1 bunch of mint, Reem advises you to thoroughly dry the herbs after washing, discarding all the stems and using ONLY the leaves. I like to bunch the leaves as tight as I can under my fingers and get to chopping. First a once over to break the leaves up and then just rocking the knife back and forth across the leaves to get them as fine as possible. I tried using a small food processor but I found this makes the leaves too mushy.
- Add the herbs to the bowl of bite-sized pieces of orange with the finely chopped 1/2 red onion.
- Using a fine mesh strainer (or a clean cloth), drain any excess water from th bulgur before adding it to the bowl with the other ingredients.
- Add the juice of 2 lemons, my lemons were super juicy so I felt 1 1/2 lemons was enough, so you know, adjust to taste.
- Add 1/4 C of olive oil, 1 T of pomegranate molasses, 2 finely minced cloves of garlic, 1 t of sumac, 1 t of salt and 1/2 t of freshly ground black pepper. Mix thoroughly and add seasons as you see fit. I found I like a little more molasses and a lot more black pepper, but you do you.
- Serve in the large bowl or individually with individual lettuce leaves filled with the tabbouli. Garnish with the orange zest, fennel fronds and more sumac.
Notes
- Obviously great with flat bread and/ or grilled meats