Tabbouleh with chickpeas and feta
Loads of fresh parsley and mint with bulgur, juicy tomatoes and lemon, made into a full meal with chickpeas and salty feta.
- 30 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $2.31 a serving
- 490 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
Dolly says: I’d make this on a weeknight. It’s on the table in 30 minutes.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- ½ cup bulgur
- 2 bunches fresh parsley
- ¼ cup fresh mint, leaves (optional)
- 3 Roma tomatoes, diced
- 1 cucumber, diced
- 3 green onions, thinly sliced
- 2 lemons, juiced
- 2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- ½ cup feta cheese, crumbled (optional)
From your pantry
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 490 calories, 18 g protein, 57 g carbs and 23 g fat, and costs about $2.31 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No fresh parsley? Cilantro works.
- No cucumbers? English cucumbers or mini cucumbers work.
- No green onions? Chives work.
- No lemons? Limes work.
- No feta cheese? Goat cheese works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Bring ¾ cup of water in a small on high. Put the bulgur in a big bowl, pour the water over, cover with a plate and leave it 20 minutes.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
High heatTimer: 20 min
Meanwhile, wash the parsley and mint and dry them well in a towel, then pull the leaves off the thick stems.
Dolly’s tip: Dry herbs chop into fine, fluffy bits. Wet ones turn to green mush.Bunch the leaves together and them, rocking the knife back and forth.
Finely chop. Finely chopping means cutting food into small pieces, a little bigger than minced, about the size of a lentil. Small pieces spread their flavor through the dish and cook quickly.
How you’ll know: Nothing is bigger than a lentil, and the pile looks like confetti rather than paste.
Dolly’s tip: Keep your fingertips curled under on the hand holding the herbs so the knife only meets your knuckles.the tomatoes and cucumber and the green onions.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Thinly slice. Thinly slicing means cutting slices about an eighth of an inch thick, roughly two coins stacked. Thin slices cook in seconds and soften fast, which quick dishes need.
How you’ll know: A slice bends a little when you hold it by one edge, and slow, steady cuts beat fast ones.
Fluff the bulgur with a fork and in the lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Add the herbs, tomatoes, cucumber, green onions and chickpeas and well. Taste and add more lemon or salt until it tastes bright.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Scatter the feta over the top and serve.
Dolly’s tip: It keeps 3 days in the fridge and needs no reheating. The herbs darken a little by day two but taste just as good.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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