I love Tabouleh – absolutely love it. But bulgar is still a carb, so I don’t make it often. Recently I thought of Quinoa, why not? Searching for recipes, I found that I wasn’t the first to think of it. Oh well! I usually add any veg I have in the house, keeping in mind that you eat with your eyes first – I think it looks like jewels! And it’s a delicious, healthy salad – if you’re hungry, add grilled shrimp or tuna!
Serves 4
Ingredients:
- 1 cup Quinoa
- 2 cups water
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 2 celery stalks
- 1/3 each red, yellow and orange peppers
- 2 green onions
- 10-12 Kalamata olives or sun-dried olives
- 1 vine ripened tomato, seeded
- 1/4 cup frozen corn (may be omitted)
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 6 mint leaves
- 4-6 cloves finely minced garlic
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- Sea Salt
- 10 grilled shrimp seasoned with lemon juice and garlic (juice of 1/2 lemon, 3 finely minced garlic cloves, sea salt to taste, 3 tbsp EVOO, well stirred; marinate shrimp for no more than 1 hour)
Directions:
- Add salt to water and boil.
- Toast Quinoa for a couple of minutes in a dry pan – moving around so it doesn’t burn (when you hear it pop, count to 5 and remove immediately)
- Add Quinoa and cook for 12 minutes on a soft boil, or until all the water is soaked into the Quinoa.
- While cooking the Quinoa, add minced garlic to lemon juice, allow to sit.
- Remove Quinoa from heat and add lemon juice and garlic mixture, mix well. Allow to absorb and cool.
- Chop all veg into similar sized pieces (I like about 1/4″ dice).
- Chop parsley and mint finely.
- When Quinoa has cooled, mix everything together. Serve with grilled shrimp!
Oh YUM!