Prepare bulgur wheat. Mix the olive oil and lemon in a bowl and add the burghul wheat. Let it soak for 15 minutes.
Chop green onions. Finely slice the tops of the green onions and save the whites for another recipe. Optionally soak in 1 cup of water while you continue to make the flavor less pungent.
Prepare tomatoes. Slice the tomatoes in quarters and deseed. Remove the watery content. Finely dice the firm part.
Chop cucumber. If using cucumber, roughly peel it, leaving some of the green peals on. Slice it lengthwise and with the tip of a spoon, remove all the seeds. Coarsely chop the two halves into small dice.
Mix ingredients. Mix the tomato [and cucumber] and add a pinch of salt. The salt will help to remove the excess water.
Prepare freh herbs. Remove the parsley and mint stems and finely chop the leaves together. Or chop them in a food processor.
Remove excess juices. Using a colander, strain the chopped diced tomatoes [and cucumber] from the excess water and the green onions slices.
Mix everything and season in a medium bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste. You may want to add a little more lemon.
Video
Notes
Parsley: traditional Lebanese tabouleh is made with curly parsley, but Italian parsley works well too.
Cucumber: to make it entirely traditional Lebanese, omit the cucumber.
Burghul: if you only find coarse burghul, you can use it, but you will need to add ¼ cup of boiling water to the olive oil and lemon juice mix so it softens enough. Allow extra 10 mins to soak. Test for hardness before mixing with the green and veggies.
Couscous: You can use couscous if you can't find burghul wheat, although it wouldn't be traditional. Just add two parts of boiling water for every part of the couscous and soak it for 15 minutes, along with the olive oil and lemon juice.
Mint: some people omit the mint, which is completely fine, but I think it is a true differentiator. In my opinion, that would take away a lot of this salad's freshness.
Lemons: in some countries is hard to find lemons, and limes are more common. Go for it! The taste will change, but the acidity we are looking for will be there.
Tomatoes: the parsley/tomato ratio should be noticeable, don't overdo the tomatoes and/or cucumber since the flavor profile may vary substantially. The parsley is the king here!