Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Tabouleh

Recipe from Sahar Nashashibi, chef, Fairouz (story told by daughter Haya).

My mom has always had a feel for cooking, even when she was young. Her mom — my grandmother — was a great cook too, and my mom used to watch her. Growing up in Jerusalem, my mother’s family had gatherings and feasts every Friday at her father’s house. Imagine, Thanksgiving. And that was every single Friday. They cooked everything from appetizers to desserts. Back home, appetizers — like hummus and tabouleh — are big things. By the time the main course comes, you’re stuffed.

Sponsored
Sponsored

When my mother married my father, she was only 18 and she had to cook. She’s been cooking ever since, for family dinners and religious celebrations. My parents are Muslim and they celebrate Eid, which is the celebration after Ramadan. Ramadan is where Muslims fast for a month. The main point is to show us how it feels when people don’t have food...so we don’t eat from sunrise to sunset. You can’t eat or drink anything. You can’t even brush your teeth. Homeless people and poor people can’t get food many days, so Ramadan teaches us compassion and patience and love for other people. Eid is a three-day celebration after Ramadan, and it’s a huge feast. We get a lamb and stuff it with rice and meat. The lamb is also given to those less fortunate.

When we’re at home, my mom cooks much like she does at the restaurant. But at home she uses more lamb and meat. For example, when she makes okra, she puts beef in it. She doesn’t do that at the restaurant because we have so many vegetarian customers. My favorite dish of my mother’s is a yogurt dish with rice and cauliflower, and it’s served hot. And her grape leaves are amazing. They are really small and have lamb and rice inside. On top of the rice, she puts tomatoes and potatoes so the leaves don’t burn.

One of my mom’s favorite dishes is tabouleh because it reminds her of back home. She loves simple food that is close to the garden. She says it’s healthy and super fresh. They used to cook it all the time back in Jerusalem — the olive oil is so good there. Tabouleh reminds her of her mother too because my grandmother made it all the time. My mom says she could have eaten it all day long. I wish I knew how to cook. I just come to the restaurant and eat.

INGREDIENTS

(Serves four as a side dish)

1/4 cup bulgur wheat
3 large bunches of parsley, finely chopped
4 spring onions, finely chopped4 plum tomatoes, finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt or more, to taste
1 lemon, juiced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

HOW TO DO IT

Add a cup of water to a small pot and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add the bulgur wheat. Let sit for 30 minutes. Chop the parsley, onions, and tomatoes and salt the tomatoes. Combine the chopped vegetables together in a medium bowl.

Drain the bulgur and add to the tomatoes, onions, and parsley. Add the lemon juice and olive oil and mix well. Add more lemon juice and salt if needed.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

San Diego Made Holiday Market, Veterans Day Parade & VetFest

Events November 10-November 11, 2024
Next Article

Michael Tiernan doesn’t toot his own horn

Instead, he writes songs for other people — and companies

Recipe from Sahar Nashashibi, chef, Fairouz (story told by daughter Haya).

My mom has always had a feel for cooking, even when she was young. Her mom — my grandmother — was a great cook too, and my mom used to watch her. Growing up in Jerusalem, my mother’s family had gatherings and feasts every Friday at her father’s house. Imagine, Thanksgiving. And that was every single Friday. They cooked everything from appetizers to desserts. Back home, appetizers — like hummus and tabouleh — are big things. By the time the main course comes, you’re stuffed.

Sponsored
Sponsored

When my mother married my father, she was only 18 and she had to cook. She’s been cooking ever since, for family dinners and religious celebrations. My parents are Muslim and they celebrate Eid, which is the celebration after Ramadan. Ramadan is where Muslims fast for a month. The main point is to show us how it feels when people don’t have food...so we don’t eat from sunrise to sunset. You can’t eat or drink anything. You can’t even brush your teeth. Homeless people and poor people can’t get food many days, so Ramadan teaches us compassion and patience and love for other people. Eid is a three-day celebration after Ramadan, and it’s a huge feast. We get a lamb and stuff it with rice and meat. The lamb is also given to those less fortunate.

When we’re at home, my mom cooks much like she does at the restaurant. But at home she uses more lamb and meat. For example, when she makes okra, she puts beef in it. She doesn’t do that at the restaurant because we have so many vegetarian customers. My favorite dish of my mother’s is a yogurt dish with rice and cauliflower, and it’s served hot. And her grape leaves are amazing. They are really small and have lamb and rice inside. On top of the rice, she puts tomatoes and potatoes so the leaves don’t burn.

One of my mom’s favorite dishes is tabouleh because it reminds her of back home. She loves simple food that is close to the garden. She says it’s healthy and super fresh. They used to cook it all the time back in Jerusalem — the olive oil is so good there. Tabouleh reminds her of her mother too because my grandmother made it all the time. My mom says she could have eaten it all day long. I wish I knew how to cook. I just come to the restaurant and eat.

INGREDIENTS

(Serves four as a side dish)

1/4 cup bulgur wheat
3 large bunches of parsley, finely chopped
4 spring onions, finely chopped4 plum tomatoes, finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt or more, to taste
1 lemon, juiced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

HOW TO DO IT

Add a cup of water to a small pot and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add the bulgur wheat. Let sit for 30 minutes. Chop the parsley, onions, and tomatoes and salt the tomatoes. Combine the chopped vegetables together in a medium bowl.

Drain the bulgur and add to the tomatoes, onions, and parsley. Add the lemon juice and olive oil and mix well. Add more lemon juice and salt if needed.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Blasphemous Boheme at San Diego Opera

Conceptual production rips out opera's beating heart
Next Article

Hill Street Donuts makes life sweet

A little bit of local love for a longtime confectionary
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader