Quinoa Tabbouleh is my gluten-free answer to a food craving from long-ago. I worked at Farmers and Merchants Bank in Morgantown while I was in college in the early eighties. I was paying my way through college and it was a good job for that. It was good money, and I shared a full-time position with another person, giving us the flexibility to work around my class schedule or to cover for one another if something came up. It wasn’t ideal, though, because I didn’t get the opportunity to just hang out and be a college student; I was always working, studying, or going to class.
For this reason, I didn’t meet many people my age while I was in college, but the people at the bank were so good to me. There was a girl in the teller pool who I’d sometimes lunch with, and she’d bemoan the fact that there weren’t any good Middle Eastern restaurants downtown. I had no idea what Middle Eastern food was, so she relished sharing vivid descriptions of her favorite foods with me. One day she came to work with tabbouleh that she had prepared for sharing. I was amazed – I had never had anything like it – so fresh and lemony. So toothsome. She gave me the recipe, You can make it too.
I did, and I loved it!
But I hadn’t made tabbouleh for many years, because it’s typically made with bulgur wheat, and Ron is gluten-intolerant – he can’t eat wheat, rye, or barley. No tabbouleh for him. Or for me, unless I would make it just for myself. Who has time for that?
A few years ago I went to the Spring kick-off meeting for our garden club, and the host served a wonderful tabbouleh made with steel cut oats. It was fantastic – mind blown. I can start making tabbouleh again! She gave me the recipe and I made it at home, but it wasn’t as tasty as hers. I have not idea why. It just didn’t satisfy that craving, so I gave up.
I didn’t forget it though – it prompted me to ponder what other grains might work in lieu of the bulgur. We eat quinoa fairly often, so I though, why not? I googled it, and tabbouleh made with quinoa is a thing! So I tried it, and I’m so happy I did. So is Ron. I want you to try this recipe for Quinoa Tabouleh too!
Quinoa Tabbouleh
Ingredients
SALAD
- 1 cup dry quinoa
- 1 or 2 large bunches curly parsley
- 6 or 7 sprigs fresh mint
- 3 scallions
- 1 large tomato
- 1 cucumber
- pepper to taste
SALAD DRESSING
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 6 T lemon juice
- 1/2 t salt
Instructions
- Prepare the quinoa – Prepare the quinoa according to the package directions. Set aside to cool. Be careful not to over-cook!
- Prepare the vegetables – Chop the parsley and mint leaves. Thinly slice the scallions. Core, peel, and deseed the tomato, then chop it in bite-sized pieces. Peel, deseed, and chop the cucumber.
- Make the lemon dressing – Whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, and salt.
- Toss and Serve – Toss the quinoa and the vegetables with the lemon dressing. Pepper generously, and serve.
Notes
Ron enjoys this salad, but he thinks that it should be more of a parsley salad garnished with the other ingredients, including the quinoa. I like this recipe for Quinoa Tabbouleh because it’s balanced, but mixing up the proportions to your liking wouldn’t change it’s essential character. Enjoy!