I’ll admit when I was looking for recipes for tabouli I didn’t even know how to spell it. I started with “taboulah”, then “tabouleh”, “taboula”, and I’ve seen tabboulah and tabbouleh, and FINALLY tabouli. It’s spelled every which way on the net though, so it’s not just my spelling. I choose the shortest, tabouli.
My son told me about a grain he was eating called “Quinoa”, pronounced “ken-wa”. I think I remember seeing it in the stores maybe and thinking grits or oatmeal, but it’s fantastic! It has more protein than any of the other grains, like 16% and can be substituted for meat in a meal.
The quinoa needs to be washed, which is the most challenging part of cooking with it. The grains are tiny and must be washed in a sieve-type colander. I just put a cupful in there and swished it around with my hand under running water. I read somewhere in my searches that there’s a bitter coating on the grains. It must have washed off though, I tasted nothing bitter.
I put one cup quinoa to 1-1/2 cups water and cooked it for about 10 minutes. Be sure to not cook it too long or it will become like grits or oatmeal and be mushy. You’ll see little curly-q’s like worms in the pot when it starts to get done. I just kept tasting mine. It should still be firm to the bite, but done.
After the quinoa was done, I turned it off and set it aside and started chopping and preparing the other ingredients. Please note that all of these ingredients can be altered, omitted, or supplemented as tastes demand. The recipe works no matter what the amounts or types of ingredients are added.
Quinoa Tabouli
2 cups cooked quinoa (don’t overcook it; should be still somewhat firm, not mushy—I used 1 cup Quinoa to 1-1/2 cups water cooked for about 10 minutes—keep tasting for doneness)
1-2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp evoo
1 tbs chopped parsley (the original recipe calls for 1/2 cup–I thought too much)
1 tbs chopped basil (same as above)
1 chopped cucumber
1 chopped tomato
3 chopped green onions (I used Vidalias because I didn’t have any green onions in the house and it was dark outside)
Ground pepper
The recipe also called for chopped mint leaves but I didn’t think I would like that taste so I omitted the mint. All the ingredients can be adjusted to your taste preference. I added a tbsp of minced garlic to my recipe and I liked the addition.
Mix the quinoa and parsley and basil together. Add rest of vegetables. Add lemon juice and olive oil, then taste it and adjust ingredients accordingly. Refrigerate and enjoy because it gets better every day.
It only lasted 2 days at my house–very tasty, cool and refreshing for a summer meal.