Mock Tabouli: an Easy Special-Diet Hack

When I'm asked to bring something to a picnic or other share-a-dish event, I try to bring something that ticks the boxes for those who might otherwise be forgotten - so in addition to cakes, cookies, and ethnic foods like noodle pudding or tsimmes (a very sweet beef stew), my repertoire includes vegan chili, meatless Hawai'ian salad, cut veggie platters with dip, or something similar. For this weekend's event, I chose to contribute a dish I called "Mock Tabouli".

If you're not familiar with tabouli, it's a Middle Eastern salad made of finely-chopped parsley, finely-diced tomatoes, and cooked-and-cooled wheat bulghur, flavored with onion, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil. Some versions add a bit of finely chopped mint; others use oregano, depending on your taste.

What makes this recipe Mock Tabouli is that the wheat bulghur is replaced with finely-chopped hard-boiled eggs. This makes the salad much higher in protein, keto-friendly, and if prepared in a contaminant-free environment, gluten free.

The first time I made Mock Tabouli was years ago over Passover, and it was a hack that gave me a reasonable take-to-work lunch option. (Again, no wheat or grain - no chometz.) While I'd never thought of it as having a separate name, I needed to name it to print out an ingredient card for our picnic. Since it didn't have all the ingredients of traditional tabouli, I figured "Mock" tabouli was an appropriate designation.

Note: Ingredient cards are essential for helping people on special diets decide whether or not they can safely eat what you've prepared. "Special diets" includes restrictions based on health - such as those required by people with food allergies or with medical conditions such as celiac disease and diverticulitis - as well as those based on religion, such as kosher or halal diets. An ingredient card includes the name of the dish, the ingredients in it, and allergy or certification disclaimers (such as "may contain traces of wheat, peanut, or citrus"; "kitchen is not kosher", etc).

When I make Mock Tabouli for a single meal, I use two or three eggs to make up a quantity of about two cups of salad. This weekend, I made Mock Tabouli as my contribution to a "bring something to share" picnic; I used about eight large eggs with two whole bunches of parsley and three tomatoes to end up with about two quarts' volume.

As it turned out, one of our attendees has a wheat allergy and was quite glad there was something she could eat!

Mock Tabouli

1 bunch curly parsley, about 4 ounces

1 bunch flat parsley, about 4-6 ounces

3 tomatoes (just over a pound)

8 hard-boiled eggs

2-3 scallions (or one very small onion)

juice of  two large lemons

1 clove garlic

2T olive oil

salt, pepper to taste

optional:

small amount of fresh mint (2-3 sprigs)

small amount of fresh oregano (2-3 stems)

1. Chop the parsley very finely, discarding stem-only parts of the bunches

2. If using mint or oregano, chop this finely, add it to the parsley, and mix well.

3. Finely dice the tomatoes. Add to the parsley.

4. Chop the scallions or onion very finely. Add to the parsley and tomato. Mix.

5. Finely chop or dice the eggs. Add to the other ingredients. Mix.

6. Crush or press the garlic into the lemon juice. Whisk well.

7. Whisk the olive oil into the lemon juice. 

8. Add salt and pepper into the lemon juice mixture to taste.

9. Strain the lemon juice dressing onto the salad. Toss well and chill thoroughly.