Why Fresh Herbs Are Essential For The Best Tabbouleh

Salads are a great way to supplement a meal or they can even become the main event at dinner. While most think of salads made from things like spinach, arugula, kale, or various types of lettuce, there's another type that is refreshing and filling that has a flavor profile that's unlike most traditional ones. Tabbouleh — sometimes also spelled tabouli — is a salad with origins in the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern regions, as noted by The Mediterranean Dish.

Like many other salads, it can be served as an appetizer, to accompany dinner, or often as a delicious main dish. This hearty vegan meal combines bulgur wheat, chopped vegetables like tomatoes and green onions, fresh herbs such as parsley and mint, and a dressing made from lemon juice and olive oil. But, the real star of tabbouleh is the herbs and since they're the star, it's important to use the freshest available.

According to Simply Recipes, using fresh herbs make for the best results, since the herbs are center stage in this dish and dried herbs won't necessarily result in the same taste or texture. It also stands to reason that the dried parsley or mint may not hold up as well to the dressing if the salad isn't eaten within the first day it's prepared. As Feel Good Foodie details, this salad is basically a parsley salad, and using curly or flat-leaf parsley works well.

In addition to the recommendation of using fresh herbs, there's also a variation in the recipe to make it gluten-free. As detailed in a MasterClass recipe, which calls for using lentils or quinoa tabbouleh as a gluten-free alternative to the traditional salad made with bulgur wheat. Whether you make your tabbouleh in the traditional sense with bulgur wheat or make it a gluten-free version, make sure you include fresh herbs for the best flavor.