1 cup fine (#1) bulgur (cracked wheat)
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup water
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1 can tomato paste (6-oz)
1 bunch scallions, chopped
1 bunch parsley, chopped fine
3 ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
¼ cup green pepper, chopped fine
½ teaspoon salt
Black pepper to taste
Cayenne pepper to taste
Juice of 1 lemon
Romaine lettuce (optional)

1. Saute onion in oil until limp.  Add water and bring to a boil.  Place bulgur in a bowl and add hot onion mixture, combine and cover tightly.  Set aside while preparing the vegetables.
2. Add the tomato paste, salt and lemon juice and mix well.   Add the scallions, parsley, tomatoes and green pepper.  Season with black and cayenne pepper. Serve on a bed of romaine lettuce, if desired.

Makes  8 side dish servings

Note:  The parsley can be chopped in a food processor.  The tomatoes, scallions and peppers may also be processed but the pieces will be more uniform and look nicer if done by hand this also goes for the parsley.   This dish is one that requires a little patience with the chopping and becomes a labor of love!   I strongly recommend peeling the tomatoes.  You can do this by dropping them one by one in boiling water for about 5 seconds.  Then put them in ice water long enough to cool and the peel should come off easily.

**Make sure you buy fine bulgur.  There are many types of bulgur; coarse is usually used for pilafs while fine is used for recipes such as stuffed meat balls (kufta), red lentil patties and eetch.   The Lebanese version of eetch is called tabbouleh in which they use more parsley than wheat.