Tabbouleh with Quinoa
Tabbouleh with Quinoa – If you’re looking for the perfect side dish for summer or the tastiest base to this Grilled Mediterranean Chicken, then Tabbouleh with Quinoa is it. Don’t forget to add the Garlic Sauce!
Gluten Free and Anti-Inflammatory Tabbouleh with Quinoa
Traditionally, tabbouleh is made with bulgar wheat. Since we focus on eating an anti-inflammatory diet here are Clean Cuisine, we avoid bulgar as an ingredient from our food because it is a type of wheat.
Which means, I came up with a way to make this tabbouleh anti-inflammatory: Tabbouleh with Quinoa. I did try a few other healthy grains, but quinoa was the big winner.
Is Quinoa Healthy for you?
Quinoa contains a wide array of nutrients including calcium, antioxidant vitamin E, potassium, lysine, and magnesium. Also a gluten-free grain, quinoa serves double duty as super “clean food” source of protein too.
Quinoa is also particularly rich in iron— just 1/2 a cup contains almost 8 milligrams. Which is way more than any other type of cereal grain, and a robust 5 grams of tummy-filling fiber.
Surprisingly, quinoa is also prebiotic. This grain can stimulate the growth of probiotics or good bacteria already found in your gut.
How to Make Tabbouleh with Quinoa
There’s only 3 main parts to making the perfect bowl of Tabbouleh with Quinoa.
#1: Prepare 6 cups of Cooked Quinoa
This recipe makes a large bowl of Tabbouleh with Quinoa. The first time I made it was with only 4 cups and it just wasn’t enough. So, as I was perfecting the recipe I thought it would be very important to make a little extra so my family of 4 could enjoy leftovers. So, this large bowl makes enough for 2 meals. If you don’t need that much, feel free to scale down my recipe by 1/2.
– How to Cook Quinoa
Before you get cooking you should know by far the easiest way to cook quinoa is in a rice cooker. Since discovering the Vita Clay Rice Cooker with a clay insert a few years back there is absolutely no way I would ever cook quinoa stovetop again.
To cook your quinoa in a rice cooker, simply measure one part quinoa to two parts water, cover and cook for about 20 minutes. Nothing to it. Check out Vita Clay Rice Cookers here.
#2: Chop All Vegetables for this Tabbouleh with Quinoa Uniformly
The best thing you can do with this recipe is to ensure the tomatoes and cucumbers are cut into smaller bite-sized pieces. Plus, do your best to make them similar in size.
With this Tabbouleh with Quinoa, it’s a grain-based salad and oversized chunks of vegetables or varying sizes don’t leave the mouth happy.
#3: Use High Quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Using a high quality extra virgin olive oil should be a mainstay in your kitchen and is perfect for this Tabbouleh with Quinoa recipe. Extra-virgin olive oil contains predominately monounsaturated fat. It also contains antioxidants and flavonoids that help prevent bad LDL cholesterol from oxidizing and becoming dangerous to your blood vessels.
Make the Perfect Mediterranean Chicken Bowl with this Tabbouleh with Quinoa
This Tabbouleh with Quinoa is the PERFECT base for a Mediterranean Bowl topped with this creamy Garlic Sauce.
I love making a big batch of this Tabbouleh with Quinoa to store in the fridge for a few days and pair it with grilled chicken and garlic sauce. But it also can be eaten on it’s own — warm or cold.
If you let your dish marinate overnight in the fridge, the flavors are even stronger. Just add a pit of fresh mint and fresh parsley on top and a few freshly sliced tomatoes.
Kitchen Favorites
Tabbouleh with Quinoa
Tabbouleh with Quinoa is loaded with Mediterranean flavor – olive oil, fresh lemon juice, mint, parsley and makes the perfect side dish.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 6-8
Ingredients
- 6 cups cooked quinoa
- 1/3 cup red onion, minced
- 2 cups cucumber, diced
- 2 cup tomatoes, diced
- 1/2 cup fresh mint, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup lemon juice
- 2–4 garlic cloves, minced
- sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, add the chopped red onion, cucumber, tomatoes, fresh mint and parsley. Fold to combine without squishing the tomatoes!
- To the vegetables, fold in the 6 cups of quinoa. Set aside.
- In a small batter bowl, add the olive oil first. As you pour in the lemon juice, whisk the oil so they combine smoothly. Then, add the garlic and sea salt and pepper, to taste.
- Drizzle the olive oil mixture onto the quinoa and vegetable mixture, Folding carefully with a large spoon or spatula.
- Serve room temperature or cold.
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Notes
Keeps in the fridge for about 3 days. Some of the olive oil dressing may separate from the quinoa from sitting. Using a large spoon, fold the tabbouleh back together before serving.
