I had never even heard of Tabbouleh until I met Ryan, and even then, it wasn't until we visited his grandparents in Oklahoma that I had the luxury of trying it. Now I like tabbouleh and will eat it when given the opportunity, but Ryan? Ryan loves tabbouleh! Every so often he'll mention it and suggest that I make it, but it wasn't until we decided to knock the lamb off of our Twelve in Ten Challenge list, that I finally bit the bullet and made some. Tabbouleh is a Lebanese salad that combines fresh vegetables (traditionally tomatoes and cucumber) with the grain bulgur in a lemony olive oil dressing with parsley and mint. It was the perfect side to our lamb dish (recipe coming in the next few days) and thanks to the leftovers, I was left with one happy husband!

-1 cup bulgur

-1 2/3 cup boiling water

-1/3 cup olive oil

-1/3 cup lemon juice

-1 cup chopped green onions

-1 cup chopped fresh parsley

-1/4 cup chopped fresh mint

-3 tomatoes chopped (I chopped 1 package of grape tomatoes)

-1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped

-1 tsp salt

-ground black pepper, to taste

1. Combine bulgur and boiling water in a large bowl. Cover, and set aside to soak for one hour.

2. In a separate bowl, combine onions, parsley, mint, tomatoes, and cucumber. After one hour, add barley. Pour oil and lemon juice over the mixture and toss to combine. Season with salt & pepper.

3. Refrigerate until serving.