Quinoa Tabbouleh

Tabbouleh is an Arab salad commonly seen in Middle Eastern restaurants. Traditionally it’s made with bulgar (don’t ask me what that is), tomatoes, cucumbers, finely chopped parsley, mint, onion, and garlic and seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice, and salt.

This is a variation from Simply Whole Kitchen. As an experiment, I’ve made a goal to each month buy an ingredient I’ve never used before: I was super excited to try radishes, Italian parsley (I didn’t know there were different types!), pink beans, and cherry tomatoes.

It’s easy to make, but the only pain is chopping everything up. And I was so tired of chopping by the end that I forgot to add tomatoes and mint. The nice thing about salads is that you can add (or not add) whatever you want.

Chef Uy: What do you think of my Quinoa Tabbouleh?! Doesn’t it look pretty?!
B: Looks…uh, healthy.

Ingredients

1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
red wine vinegar, to taste
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro and/or mint
1 can white or pink beans, drained
6 or 7 radishes, chopped
2 ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
1/2 can black olives, chopped
1/4 c roasted pistachios
crushed red pepper

Directions
Put the quinoa a rice cooker and cook according to directions (2:1 ratio for water:quinoa).

Remove from the heat and let rest. Toss the warm quinoa with the oil, lemon juice, and garlic.

Just before eating, add the remaining ingredients and toss gently. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more oil or lemon juice as needed, then serve.

Optional: I don’t think it’s supposed to have dressing technically, but I couldn’t resist adding my extra chimichurri sauce from the tri tip steak