This tabouleh flatbread recipe with baba ghanoush takes some time and effort but it’s worth every second: it has one of the most addictive and truly delicious flavours I can think of.
When I eat in a Lebanese restaurant, these two classic dishes are my favourite combination.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
– 30g bulgar wheat
– 100g flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
– 40g mint, leaves picked and finely chopped
– 350g cucumber, halved, deseeded and diced
– 100g cherry or baby plum tomatoes, halved
– Juice of 1 lemon
– 1 tbsp olive oil
– 2 Lebanese flatbreads, or pitta breads, halved (about 70g each), to serve
– 1⁄4 jar Sweet Pickled Red Onion or 3 spring onions, finely chopped, to garnish
– Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Baba ghanoush
– 2 medium aubergines
– 1 head of garlic
– 1 1⁄2 tbsp tahini
– 1 tbsp olive oil
Method:
1. First make the baba ghanoush; the flavour is best when this is done the night before you want to serve it.
2. Char the aubergines over the naked flame of a gas hob for about 30 minutes, until the skins are crisp, brittle and totally blackened, and the centre so soft the aubergines are collapsing in on themselves.
3. Transfer to a bowl, cover in clingfilm and allow to cool completely.
4. Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6.
6. Wrap the garlic in foil, place on a baking tray and roast for 40 minutes.
7. Gently peel the skin from the aubergines and place in a bowl.
8. Squeeze the soft flesh from the garlic cloves and mash it into the aubergine. Add the tahini and olive oil and beat everything together until you have a nice smooth purée. Season to taste.
9. Boil the bulgar wheat in salted water for 15 minutes. Refresh under cold water to stop the cooking process and set aside to drain thoroughly.
10. Transfer the bulgar to a large bowl and stir in the parsley, mint, cucumber and tomatoes. Dress with the lemon juice, olive oil and a good pinch of salt and pepper.
11. Heat the flatbreads in a moderate oven and serve stuffed with the tabouleh and baba ghanoush and garnished with sweet pickled red onion.
Kathryn is an Irish food writer and stylist living in London. She has spent the best part of ten years working in the food industry, and her cookbooks reflect her experience. Kathryn’s ambition is to create enticing, unusual and exciting recipes that are high in nutrition and low in calories. In Skinny Salads there is 80 flavour-packed recipes and each recipe has less then 300 calories. Ranging from gloriously green to gluten and dairy-free, vegetarian and vegan recipes there is something for everyone.
Taken from Skinny Salads by Kathryn Burton published by Kyle Books, photography by Laura Edwards