March 21 is officially the first day of spring and in the Middle East, it is also Mother’s Day. So, Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there especially my own.
When spring is here, it screams for tabbouleh. I can’t think of any fresh, light and refreshing dish more than this one during this special day.
Tabouleh is a very popular dish in Palestine and across the Arab world and lately in the US as well.
Tabouleh’s original recipe is often made with the very fine version of bulgur, some also add fresh mint leaves, some make it without cucumbers, and only with parsley and tomatoes. Today, I’m sharing with you my own version of tabbouleh that I love and everyone else who tried it.
So, I once tried to make it with quinoa instead of bulgur and got totally hooked. Which in return makes this dish a full meal, since quinoa is high in protein, and the difference is that when you make it with bulgur you only have to add just a bit of it, too much of bulgur will ruin the dish, however with quinoa the dish still tastes great and fulfilling even when you add more quinoa.
To save time parsley can be done the day before and kept covered in the fridge, then when I’m ready to make tabbouleh, I add finely chopped cucumbers, tomatoes, scallions, and cooked quinoa. For tabbouleh to be tasty it needs lots of fresh lemon juice and a good amount of olive oil, in addition to the salt of course. That’s how I like mine, but people’s tastes are different, you may want to go easy at the beginning with the dressing ingredients and gradually add more based on your taste.
Tabouleh can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge up to 2 days without the dressing. Once it is ready for serving ingredients of dressing: lemon, salt and oil can be added.
I love to eat mine with roman lettuce.
This recipe is enough for 3-4 people.
Tabouleh with Quinoa تبولة مع كينوا
Ingredients
- 4 bunches of Italian parsley
- 3 cucumbers finely chopped
- 4 tomatoes finely chopped
- 4–6 ounces of scallions (green onions)
- 1/2 – 3/4 cup of cooked quinoa
- 1/2–1 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1/4 cup of olive oil
- salt
Instructions
- Prepare the parsley, remove stems, wash well and dry, then chop parsley and set aside.
- Chop all other ingredients, cucumbers, tomatoes, and scallions.
- Cook quinoa: each cup of quinoa takes 2 cups of water. Add tap water to quinoa, let it boil, then cover and turn the heat on low for about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool off.
- In a large bowl mix parsley and all other ingredients including quinoa, then pour lemon juice, salt, and olive oil. Mix well and serve.
