Serves: 4 - 6
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Quinoa Tabbouleh
Description
Want something light, clean, vegan/vegetarian friendly, gluten and refined sugar-free? Give this delicious, wholesome quinoa tabbouleh a try. It's great as a side salad or, when served with pita bread, an excellent main course. It's chock full of vegetables and has a simple lemon juice and olive oil dressing. Since quinoa is a seed, and not a true grain, this is also acceptable for people on low carb/low glycemic index diets; just eat in moderation, of course. You also get a healthful boost of protein, plus 8 critical amino acids, from the quinoa, so it's performing a double duty. Hot weather is approaching faster than we'd like to admit, so forget firing up the oven with this one. This can be eaten at room temperature, or chilled.
Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup quinoa (I used an organic brand)
- 1 pinch of kosher salt
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ½ tsp. sea or kosher salt
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 - 3 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
- 2 small bunches of scallions, diced (more or less, to taste)
- 2 carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
- 1 cup fresh Italian flat leaf parsley, finely chopped (more or less, to taste)
Directions
In a medium saucepan, bring the water to a boil. Add the quinoa and a pinch of salt, Stir up the quinoa a little, then reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature (this is important, so make sure it's completely cool). Fluff the quinoa gently with a fork.
In a large bowl, combine the olive oil, lemon juice, sea or kosher salt, tomatoes, scallions, carrots and parsley. Stir in the cooled quinoa, season to taste with more salt (if desired), and serve at room temperature.
Serve pita bread on the side, if serving as a main course, and serve as a side salad when paired with grilled meats (chicken is particularly delicious).