Okay, I like tabouleh, but obviously not as much as the people in a town in the Metn district of Lebanon. They are listed in the Guinness World Records for making the world’s largest bowl of tabouleh. It weighed in at a hefty 1,514 kilograms. That’s 3,338 pounds of tabouleh. Where do you suppose they got a bowl that big?

　　

Ingredients

serves 4

　　2 cups water

　　1/2 teaspoon salt

　　3/4 cup bulgur

　　1/2 bunch parsley

　　1 cucumber

　　2 tomatoes

　　3 green onions

　　1 clove garlic

　　1/4 cup lemon juice

　　2 tablespoons olive oil

　　Salt and pepper

　　1/4 cup coarsely chopped mint leaves

　　

Step 1

Bring the water and salt to a boil in a saucepan, pour in the bulgur, and cover. Remove from the heat and let stand for 20 minutes, or until most of the liquid has been absorbed and the bulgur is fluffy and tender. Drain in a sieve and refrigerate until ready to use.

　　

Step 2

Coarsely chop the parsley. Peel the cucumber and cut into 1/2-inch cubes. Cut the tomatoes in half, scrape the seeds out of the tomato with a small tool or your finger, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces. Trim the green onions, discarding the ends, and cut the white and about 1 inch of the green part into thin slices.

　　

Step 3

Peel and finely chop the garlic or pass it through a garlic press, place it in a small bowl with the lemon juice and olive oil, and beat well with a fork. Season with salt and pepper.

　　

Step 4

Place the bulgur in a large bowl. Add the parsley, cucumber, tomatoes, green onions, mint, and vinaigrette and stir well, then taste and season with salt and pepper if the salad needs it. Chill before serving.

　　

food trivia

Step 5

Bulgur is wheat that has been cracked, but it is not cracked wheat. Confused? Well, you’re not alone. When wheat berries are cooked, dried, and then cracked with most of the hull removed, they are called bulgur. When wheat berries have been cracked without being cooked or hulled, they are called cracked wheat. Fortunately for us, the hull/no hull decision is easy because true cracked wheat is difficult to find in the United States.

　　College Vegetarian Cooking