Quinoa Tabouli

Quinoa tabouli is calling your name! That is, if you're looking for a fresh, delicious, perhaps somewhat exotic salad for supper!

But do you even know what tabouli is? Growing up in the American Midwest I personally never heard of it.

So, we’ll tell you a little bit about tabouli -- or as some spell it, tabouleh.

Or if you just want the recipe and ingredients you can jump down to the Ingredients section.

Otherwise, keep reading to learn more about this fascinating salad!

What is quinoa tabouli?

First let’s talk about tabouli itself. What is it?

Tabouleh is an originally Arabic salad. It has two parts -- the salad itself and the dressing.

The salad part of it typically contains the following ingredients…

• bulgur
  
  
• parsley
  
  
• garlic
  
  
• cucumbers
  
  
• tomatoes
  
  
• mint
  
  
• onion

But what kind of dressing do people put on it? I think most would use a mix of the following…

• lemon
  
  
• olive oil
  
  
• salt

But what makes a normal every-day tabouli a quinoa tabouli? That’s simple -- you just use quinoa in the place of bulgur!

But why would you even want to substitute quinoa for bulgur?

We could think of a number of reasons -- especially knowing the impressive story behind quinoa’s nutritional content.

But most importantly for our family -- bulgur is made of wheat... And wheat has gluten... And at least Paul doesn’t do well with gluten.

So this recipe allows us to have a gluten-free tabouleh!

So enough with the talk. Let’s learn how to make it already!

Quinoa tabouli ingredients

Here’s what you need to make this recipe...

• 1 Cup Finely chopped Spinach, or to taste
  
  
• ⅛ tsp Peppermint oil, alcohol-free
  
  
• 1-2 Cups Quinoa, cooked
  
  
• 1 Cucumber, peeled, chopped
  
  
• 1 Pint Cherry tomatoes, or 2 medium
  
  
• 1 Onion, chopped
  
  
• ½ Lemon, juiced (¼ Cup)
  
  
• ¼ Cup Olive Oil
  
  
• Black pepper, to taste
  
  
• Salt, to taste
  
  
• Romaine lettuce, chopped

Let me say a few things about the ingredients...

You may have noticed that we use spinach instead of the more traditional parsley. Why? I’m not sure -- I guess it’s just what we had on hand! So, you may want to substitute parsley for the spinach.

Also we used mint oil instead of mint leaves. Is that an issue? It wasn’t for us. Again, use what you have. And have some fun!

How to make quinoa tabouli

And now for the step-by-step instructions...

1. Mix a little bit of the spinach with the peppermint oil
   
   
2. Mix the spinach/peppermint combination with the rest of the spinach
   
   
3. Set it aside a few minutes
   
   
4. Separately, mix quinoa, cucumber, tomatoes, and onion in a large bowl
   
   
5. Whisk together the lemon juice, oil, pepper, and salt
   
   
6. Add the minty spinach to the quinoa mixture and stir
   
   
7. Add the lemon mixture and stir
   
   
8. Serve on romaine lettuce

And what did we think of this tabbouleh?

For whatever reason Lori liked it better the next day! We still wonder why this would be…

Give it a try and let us know what you think!

Recommended Pages...

Recent Articles

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

1. Quinoa Recipes for Kids

   Sep 13, 14 10:05 AM

   Quinoa recipes for kids -- nutrition that kids will love!

   Read More

2. Gluten-Free Quinoa Flat Bread

   Aug 29, 14 07:17 AM

   These are great hot off the griddle! Even try adding herbs like basil or garlic powder for extra flavor.The chia seeds add nutrition. But if you don't

   Read More

3. Quinoa Bread Recipes

   Aug 27, 14 07:11 AM

   Add some nutritious quinoa to your daily bread with these unique quinoa bread recipes.

   Read More

Sign-up for Our Quarterly Quinoa Update!