Tabbouleh Hummus

I used to really, really hate the flavor of many fresh herbs. Especially fresh parsley and mint. Just smelling or thinking about either one kind of made me want to die a little bit. You know how in Sex and The City, Carrie tells servers she’s allergic to fresh parsley because she hates it so much? Yeah, that’s pretty much what I wanted to do (but never really did).

So Mediterranean food was a love/hate relationship. I loved hummus, I loved things like shawarma and falafel and kafta, and almost everything else. But at my favorite Lebanese restaurant, everything is served with tabbouleh – a mixture of cracked wheat, cucumber, tomato, fresh parsley and fresh mint.  Why? Whyyyyyy?

Luckily, I’m a firm believer in the fact that our taste buds change every 7 – 10 years. My taste buds have already changed more times than I can count. I’ve been through phases where I didn’t like bananas, olives, bacon, and a variety of other things, and then come back to them again. That’s why I’m always trying and re-trying things that I think I don’t like. Every single time we went to that Lebanese restaurant, I made myself try at least one bite of tabbouleh. It was pure torture 99 times out of 100, but on that 100th time…

Naturally, without warning or reason, my taste buds changed on this one so much that I’m now at the complete opposite end of the spectrum. I crave tabbouleh. I sometimes order an extra side of it just so I can eat it for lunches throughout the week. The bright, herby flavor is sooooo good!

Here, I’ve made homemade batches of both hummus and tabbouleh, and them stirred some of the tabbouleh into the hummus so that every bite has that fresh herb flavor I love. While I could pretty much eat this whole bowl with just a spoon, I did serve it with NatureBox Chia Seed Crackers. These savory little chia seed-infused crackers are just right for dunkin’ and dippin’ to your hearts content.

Yield: About 4 cups

Tabbouleh Hummus

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Prep Time 25 minutes

Ingredients

For the Tabbouleh:

• 1/4 cup bulgur wheat
• 1 small garlic clove, minced
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 Roma tomato, seeded and finely chopped
• 1/4 cucumber, seeded and finely chopped
• 1 cup finely chopped curly leaf parsley
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

For the Hummus:

• 1 can (15.5 ounces) chickpeas, drained (reserve liquid from can)
• 1/3 cup liquid from chickpea can
• 2 small garlic cloves
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

For Serving:

• NatureBox Chia Seed Crackers, pita, pita chips or cut vegetables

Instructions

1. Place bulgur wheat in medium bowl; cover with about 1 cup of boiling water. Let stand 20 minutes, then drain.
2. Meanwhile, make Hummus: In food process or blender, puree all ingredients until smooth.
3. Make Tabbouleh: In medium bowl, whisk together garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and salt. Add remaining ingredients, including bulgur; toss to combine.
4. In medium bowl, stir together Hummus and 1/2 of Tabbouleh. Transfer to serving bowl; mound remaining Tabbouleh on top. Serve with crackers, pita, pita chips or vegetables.

Notes

I originally developed this recipe for the NatureBox blog.