Tabbouleh-Inspired Herb Salad

It’s always useful to have a good herb use-up recipe in your repertoire for when you have an extra bunch wilting in the fridge or a fast-growing garden that needs to be trimmed. I happen to have both right now (for the first time in my life, I am growing herbs that have survived longer than a few weeks!) and so it’s time to make this tabbouleh-inspired salad. Tabbouleh traditionally has lots and lots of parsley as well as bulgur wheat, but in this version you can swap in any tender herb and use any grain you like. I used a combination of parsley, cilantro, mint, basil and just a few sprigs of stronger-flavored thyme and oregano. I like the dressing plain and simple, but tabbouleh often has allspice, cumin, or other spices, so flavor it as you like.

It’s a great Hero Recipe for raiding the crisper drawer and tossing in extras, which might mean fresh summer vegetables or simply cooked leftovers. In this case, I found some wrinkly tomatoes, a cucumber and peppers that needed to be eaten, and some old scallions that needed the slimy outer bits removed and the dried bits cut off (and stashed in my Freezer Stock Bag). As always, consider these ingredients a starting point - adapt the amounts of herbs and grains to your liking, toss in some fresh avocado or crumbles of goat cheese, use up the last of the leftover chicken in the fridge…it’s all up to you.