Wheat-Free Tabouli Salad

Quinoa Tabouli

I recently read Howard Lyman's book, No More Bull! The Mad Cowboy Targets's America's Worst Enemy: Our Diet. I found it a very interesting and fast read, and I copied a few recipes out of it before I returned my copy to the library.

One of my most favorite salad recipes ever is for tabouli salad, which is typically made with bulgar wheat. The version included in the recipe section of Lyman's book (which was cited as being from CalciYum by David and Rachel Brontman), uses quinoa instead of wheat, making this both a nutritious and delicious high-protein and gluten-free version of tabouli.

And, as an added bonus, it is both quick and easy to make and assemble. I varied slightly from the recipe in terms of ingredient amounts, but my changes are noted below.

Quinoa Tabouli:
Rinse 1 cup of quinoa and bring it to a boil in 2 cups of water. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Then remove it from heat, uncover and let cool.

While the quinoa is cooking, you can prepare the other ingredients. You will need:

• 3/4 cup chopped mint (I used about 1 cup)
• 1/2 cup diced cucumber (again, I used about 1 cup)
• 2 cups finely chopped parsley (I also added about 3/4 cup finely chopped fresh spinach)
• 2 small tomatoes (I used 3 organic romas)
• 3 chopped green onions (I used between 4 and 5 green onions)

Quinoa Tabouli in Butter Lettuce Cups

The salad dressing is made from:

• 3 tablespoons of lemon juice (I increased to 4)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (I added a little more salt, to taste)
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Whisk together dressing ingredients; combine veggies with quinoa and then add dressing and stir.

You can chill this for an hour and serve cold in some lettuce cups like I did, or eat it straight away. I also served it with a side of sprouted bean, cucumber, and parsley salad, along with a side-dish of sauteed zucchini, onion, garlic,and tomato cooked in olive oil, white wine and balsamic.  Overall, it was a delicious and easy home-cooked dinner.