Tabbouli-inspired Chickpea and Buckwheat Salad
This is the evolution of one of my old favorites, which became a standby during my vegan college days back in the ’90s–when I developed a taste for more Middle Eastern foods in general. Especially in the summer, I used to like to make a big batch once a week or so for the fridge, to casually eat on for as long as it lasted.
This started out as a more straightforward take on tabbouli, using bulgur wheat. Obviously that was out once the celiac was finally recognized. For years after that, I substituted brown rice or quinoa–both of which are fine options here. Now buckwheat is easier to find where I live, and it works extremely well for a salad like this. At some point along the way, I started adding in chickpeas or other cooked beans like I did here. Firmer cooked butter beans/large white beans or cannellini (like from a can) are another great choice. If you prefer all grain, use more of that instead and it will be delicious.
This definitely isn’t summer anymore in this hemisphere, but I found myself with more fresh parsley and mint than I had other uses for right now, and also a spare cucumber and some cherry tomatoes that needed to be used ASAP. Perfect time for some not-quite-tabbouli anyway!
Tabbouli-inspired Chickpea and Buckwheat Salad
Materials
- 2 cups cooked toasted whole buckwheat (approximate) 100g dry grain cooked in salted water
- OR cooked brown rice/quinoa
- 1 can cooked chickpeas, drained or the equivalent, cooked in salted water
- OR beans of your choice
Vegetables
- ½-1 small onion finely chopped, to preference
- ½-1 sweet pepper I used yellow, but any color will do
- 1 large green onion chopped (optional)
- 2 cloves garlic pressed or finely minced
- ¾-1 English cucumber chopped, or the equivalent in other varieties
- 1 large tomato chopped
- OR cherry tomatoes quartered
- 1 smallish bunch flat-leaf parsley chopped
- 1 smallish bunch fresh mint leaves chopped
To Dress
- juice of one lemon to taste
- 4 tbsp olive oil or mix of olive and a neutral oil of choice
- salt to taste
- coarsely ground pepper to taste
- (optional) Vegeta or similar seasoning To taste, for the hint of salty umami. I think I used about ⅓ teaspoon in this batch.
Instructions
- Cook the buckwheat in salted water per package directions, and leave aside to cool and drain further as needed. I used this pre-toasted Eastern European brand sold packaged 100g boil-in-bag pouches. Normally I would remove from the pouch to cook in another dish, but we just want plain boiled buckwheat here. I didn't measure the volume before cooking, but I would estimate that ⅔ cup of dry grain (or just under 200ml) would be close enough.If you can only find the lighter-colored grain which hasn't already been toasted, you can do that yourself in a dry frying pan over medium heat for a few minutes until it starts darkening and smells toasty. This isn't absolutely necessary, but it adds a nice flavor and helps the grain cook up more separately. This will also be good made with brown rice or quinoa instead of the buckwheat. I used to routinely use brown rice.
- Assemble your ingredients, and start prepping the vegetables and herbs. Preferably reserve the cucumber and tomato until sooner before serving. You will want to let the other ingredients marinate together for at least overnight, for best flavor.Normally I would just use a whole large cucumber, but both ends on this one had gone a little weird. It's a very flexible salad. You can add other vegetables as desired. I like grated carrot, but didn't feel like it this time. It got half that yellow pepper for color and flavor variation instead.Throw things into your mixing bowl as they're ready.
- A better idea of how much chopped mint (to the right) and parsley went into this batch. Most authentically made tabbouli uses a higher proportion of parsley, but I prefer it more as an accent than a main component of the salad. You can use however much you prefer.
- When it's assembled except for the tomato and cucumber, it's time to pour the dressing ingredients over the salad. Stir well, and let it marinate well covered at least overnight in the fridge.
- An hour or so before I was planning to serve it, it's time to add the tomato and cucumber. I also had dressing ingredients/seasonings ready again, to adjust to taste as necessary.Optional but nice: Let the chopped cucumber sit salted with around ⅓ tsp. table salt for 20-30 minutes to draw out some of the excess liquid, then drain before adding. This will keep the salad from getting as watery as it sits.
- Do a final seasoning adjustment, and enjoy!Anything that's left will store well for several days in the refrigerator.
