We’re smack in the middle of the Argentine summer right now. There’s brighter sunshine, longer days, later sunsets, and the incredible feeling of soon-to-be holidays in the air. Summer is the season where we start planning our vacations (usually someplace by the beach) and try to escape the heat of the city as much as possible. You’ll have to understand that the heat can often be quite unbearable, particularly when there’s so much concrete and buildings next to each other.
Naturally, our bodies crave foods that can combat the heat; foods that are light and refreshing and easy to prepare without much heat, if any at all. During these days of summer, I gravitate towards plenty of greens on my plate (mostly in the form of salads).
Some days it could be fresh butter lettuce, diced tomatoes and sliced button mushrooms, mixed together with a light dressing of olive oil, balsamic vinegar and salt. Other days, it could be a more interesting mixture of sliced fresh peaches mingled with fresh arugula leaves, crumbled blue cheese and chopped walnuts, then drizzled over with a bit of olive oil.
It really doesn’t matter what the exact ingredients are in my salad – the basic formula is a mix of textures and flavors and colors, all tumbled together in one large bowl and jazzed up with a vinaigrette made with the ingredients you have available – the kind that can be both a delicious side that stands up on its own, and can even be eaten as a full meal, if you’re not extremely hungry.
I’ve found one favorite salad recipe that is a crazy wonderful delicious combination of textures, and exotic flavors, and best of all, keeps extremely well in the fridge. In fact, the longer the salad sits, the better the flavors get absorbed, and some days when I get home from work, hungry for something fresh and light, a couple of spoonfuls of this salad – straight from the bowl sitting in the refrigerator – does the trick.
The Tabbouleh salad is a Levantine salad that’s a popular appetizer in many Middle Eastern restaurants. Because it’s basically a salad that comprises of very fine bulgur and various vegetables all chopped up, the key to making this salad well is simple – make sure that you chop and dice your vegetables as finely as humanly possible. I’ll admit that this salad requires patience, and plenty of determination to finish chopping all the vegetables, but the end result is a super refreshing salad that it totally worth it, particularly during the days of hot, hot summer.
Once you finished the chopping of all the vegetables, mix them together with the hydrated bulgur, and let it chill for a couple of hours in the fridge. When you’re ready to eat the salad, combine fresh lemon juice and olive oil for the vinaigrette, which you’ll serve together with the salad.
This is so good, just so incredibly good, I hope you’ll try this soon!
A salad recipe that is a crazy wonderful delicious combination of textures, and exotic flavors, and best of all, keeps extremely well in the fridge.
Ingredients
- 250g of very fine bulgur
- 1 onion (chopped finely)
- 150g of spring onions (chopped finely)
- 1 cup of chopped parsley
- 2 tomatoes (diced)
- 2 cucumbers (diced)
- 1 teaspoon of chopped fresh mint
- 2 lemons (for the lemon juice)
- 200ml of olive oil
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Wash and rinse the bulgur several times, changing the water as needed.
- Once washed, allow bulgur to soak in warm water for 15 minutes, then drain the water completely.
- Chop onion, spring onions, parsley, tomatoes, cucumbers, mint
- Mix all the ingredients together, adding salt & pepper to taste
- Chill the salad in the refrigerator for 1 - 2 hours
- Mix olive oil and lemon juice together to make the dressing
- Serve salad chilled with the olive oil & lemon juice dressing
Notes
Serves 6
Felicia is a Singaporean who’s currently located in Buenos Aires, also known as the “Paris of South America”. When she’d first moved to Argentina, she found herself grappling with the mysterious concept of cooking. Thankfully, with the help of cooking classes and constant practice in her tiny kitchen, she’s developed a love for cooking and with that, a passion for food blogging.... Read More
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