Tabbouleh with pomegranate

A slight twist on the classic Middle Eastern salad, perfect as part of a mezze meal.

📝 Ingredients

• 1/4 cup fine bulgur wheat
• 1 Persian cucumber (optional)
• 2 tomatoes (medium)
• 2 spring onions (green onion, or more if small)
• 1 1/2 cups fresh parsley (chopped volume)
• 1/2 cup mint (chopped volume)
• 1/4 cup pomegranate arils
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 tbsp lemon juice (or use part pomegranate molasses)
• salt and pepper

👨‍🍳 Instructions

1. 1Place the bulgur wheat in a bowl and add twice the volume of boiling water. Cover and leave it to soak for a good 10 minutes or more while you prepare the rest. (Note, this only works with fine bulgar. If you can only find coarser, you may need to simmer on the stove a few minutes to hydrate fully instead - check packet.)
2. 2Dice the cucumber, if using, into small cubes. Dice the tomato in similar size, removing the tougher stem. Remove stem from green onions then thinly slice the white and light green part. Remove the leaves from the parsley and mint stems and for the mint, I suggest removing the central rib of the leaf in larger leaves as it can be a little tough, but you can skip if you prefer. Chop all the leaves relatively fine, but they don't need to be really small.
3. 3Place the soaked bulgur, drained of any excess water, in a bowl, along with the cucumber, tomato, onion, parsley, mint and pomegranate arils. Drizzle over the olive oil, lemon juice and a few grinds of salt and pepper. You can optionally add a little pomegranate molasses (or swap out 1 tbsp lemon for 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses). Mix all together well, but without breaking things up. Test the seasoning and adjust to taste, if needed.