Safsouf – Cabbage and Burghul (or Bulgur) Salad

This dish is rustic, tasty, nourishing and easy to prepare. it is said it originated in the Bekaa Valley, more precisely in the Hermel District, in Lebanon.

The recipes varies from family to family. The recipe herein is similar to a tabouleh.

Choose preferably a Bulgur which is medium in coarseness and soak it in water until tender. Then drain and squeeze well to remove the water that has been absorbed.

NB: dry bulgur, a pre-cooked ingredient, will almost double when soaked.

This salad type dish can be served as a starter or a side dish and is definitely a vegetarian meal.

Optional: use whole romaine lettuce leaves to scoop the Safsouf while eating.

Ingredients

• About half cup of dry bulgur, to soak in water, drained and squeezed prior to using
• About 6 big cabbage leaves, washed then sliced into quite thin strips
• A big bunch of flat leaf parsley, washed then finely chopped
• A small bunch of washed mint, leaves picked and finely chopped
• 1 white onion, or 3 spring onions, finely sliced
• About 4 tbsp of olive oil
• Juice of 1 lemon, or to taste
• 1/2 tsp of allspice
• Half deseeded red chili, finely chopped (optional)
• Salt, to taste
• I would like to stress that there are no exact quantities to prepare this dish so you can alter the quantities and adapt them to your liking. For example, more of an ingredient and less of another.

Method