Quinoa Tabbouleh: A Modern Twist on a Classic Middle Eastern Salad

My Quinoa Tabbouleh

A couple of years ago, I was sitting in my doctor's waiting room watching a television when I heard the word for the first time: quinoa. This was my first exposure to the superfood that would later take the country (or at least my social circle) by storm. While I had heard many good things about quinoa from a nutritional standpoint, I could not help but wonder what on earth I was supposed to do with this strange-looking superfood (quinoa has tails, people). After a couple of failed attempts of incorporating quinoa into recipes, I found a way to use up the bag of quinoa that had been sitting untouched in my cupboard for weeks.

One unusually cloudy California afternoon, I was standing in the kitchen about to soak bulgar in preparation for making my grandmother's tabbouleh recipe. As I reached into the cupboard for bulgar, a tabbouleh staple, an idea came to mind. Bulgar and quinoa look very similar prior to being cooked, so I wondered if I could successfully swap bulgar for quinoa in hopes of finishing the package of quinoa taking up space in the cupboard. After a Google search to make sure this substitution would not be disastrous, I was not-so-surprised to find out quinoa tabbouleh was a already a thing.

I went on to make my first batch of quinoa tabbouleh that day. After taste-testing it out on some hesitant friends and myself, it became clear that this modern twist on the classic middle eastern salad was a huge success. Nowadays, I alternate between quinoa and bulgar in tabbouleh. Bulgar is slightly easier to use because it does not require any cooking; you simply soak it in water. While quinoa requires a little bit more work because you have to cook the grain beforehand, the extra work may be worthwhile for anyone with a gluten sensitivity or intolerance... or for someone who is simply trying to maximize the nutritional benefits on this already healthy salad.

The recipe below can be modified significantly depending on your preferences. Enjoy!

Recipe
Ingredients:

• Two bunches of Italian parsley
• One bunch of green onions
• Two persian cucumbers
• One large tomato
• Two lemons
• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 1/3 cup of uncooked quinoa (cooked, drained, and set aside) 
• Salt to taste 

Steps:

Prep and wash the ingredients.

You need 1/4 cup of olive oil and the juice of two lemons.

Cook quinoa according to instructions on package.

Finely chop parsley, tomatoes, cucumbers, and green onions.

Combine everything for the finished product: Quinoa Tabbouleh!