Quinoa Tabbouleh: Try this Twist on a Famous Salad

My dad would make tabbouleh frequently in the summer when I was growing up. He would make an afternoon of it when the garden tomatoes were abundant and needing to be used up. This is essentially my dad’s recipe, but I adapted it to be gluten free. Usually, tabbouleh is made with wheat bulger which is soaked until it is soft. The quinoa in this recipe gives it a protein punch and makes it gluten free.

If you are not familiar with tabbouleh, it is essentially a chopped salad with the main star being parsley. Flat, curly, or both, we don’t discriminate here! If parsley is the star, tomatoes are the lead guitar with red onion and quinoa being the back up dancers. My version might be a bit quinoa heavy, but you can always make adjustments to find your perfect mix.

The ingredients come together with lemon juice, paprika, and of course salt and pepper to make a brilliant but simple salad that is best enjoyed in Syrian bread. In my family, we would line the pocket with iceberg lettuce, as the lemon juice and tomatoes in the recipe can make it a bit drippy and messy.

This quinoa tabbouleh is delicious on the first day, but as the ingredients marinate, it gets better on day two and three if it lasts that long! Store any unused portions in the refrigerator and it should last about a week.

Makes about 6 cups, so enough to serve a group!

Ingredients:

2 cups of cooked quinoa

1 cup of chopped parsely

1 cup of chopped roma tomatoes, seeded and drained

1/2 cup of red onion

Juice from 1 lemon

1/2 teaspoon of paprika

1 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon of pepper

1/2 teaspoon of bharat or Syrian pepper (optional)

Instructions:

1. It really is as easy as combining everything in a mixing bowl, but I want to share my secret for tomatoes. Tomatoes have a decent water content to them, so to avoid the tabbouleh from being too wet, I like to seed and drain my tomatoes in a sieve while I prep the other ingredients. To do this, all you have to do is remove the seeds with your knife, a spoon, or your little old hands prior to chopping.
2. Once you chop the tomatoes, just let them drain in the sink or catch that tomato water in a bowl. You can use the seeds and tomato water in recipes that call for canned tomatoes to reduce food waste. I used the seeds and juice from this recipe in my Chicken Tagine but it could also work in a spaghetti sauce.