Once you taste this Quinoa Tabouli you may never go back to the traditional bulgur wheat recipe. The bowl is filled with a bountiful garden of fresh vegetables, tossed with quinoa and dressed with a tangy dressing. It's healthy in a bowl!
My daughter was recently diagnosed with severe gluten intolerance and has had to alter her diet quite drastically. In order to help her, I started looking into gluten-free cooking and how to change up her favorite recipes to gluten-free ones. It is a challenging time for her and it's important she not feel like she is missing something.
A large number of people have jumped on the bandwagon, without doing the proper research, thinking that eating gluten-free is a healthier lifestyle but, it is healthy only if you adjust other parts of your diet as well.
Studies have found gluten-free diets can be seriously nutrient-deficient and low in fiber, folate, iron, calcium, niacin, thiamine, riboflavin, vitamin B12, phosphorus, and zinc. Why? Because so many "gluten-free" products on the market are made with unenriched, refined grains & starches, high in calories and low in the vitamins and minerals that you are missing from not having gluten in your diet.
Making your own homemade gluten-free dishes can add the needed fiber, vitamins, and minerals back into your diet. And nothing does that better than quinoa. Quinoa offers amazing amounts of protein, fiber and important minerals to any dish. I love changing up my usual recipes and substituting quinoa for other starches, like in my Mexican Quinoa Bake, Spanish Quinoa (a take on Spanish rice) and today's recipe for Quinoa Tabouli.
It has always been a favorite lunch for me and I like that it has so many fresh vegetables in it to boost the nutritional content of the salad. Adding quinoa, a gluten-free protein source brings the salad to a whole new level. And, the best part is, it tastes just as good as the original! Enjoy!
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QUINOA TABOULI
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups water
- 1 cup uncooked Nature's Earthly Choice Organic Quinoa
- 2 tomatoes, coarsely chopped
- ½-1 bunch fresh parsley chopped
- ½ -1 medium green/red or yellow bell pepper coarsely chopped
- ¼ cup cucumber, chopped
- ¼ cup fresh onion, chopped
- 2 ¼ oz black olives, sliced (optional)
- ⅓ cup fresh lemon juice
- ¼-1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- Dash cayenne
Instructions
- Place water and quinoa in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.
- Cover, reduce heat and simmer 15-20 minutes or until all liquid has been absorbed.
- Remove from heat and stir.
- Mix in tomato, parsley, pepper, cucumber, onion and olives.
- Stir together lemon juice, oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano and cayenne. Pour over quinoa mixture and toss well.
- Cover & place in refrigerator. Let stand at minimum 1 hour or better overnight.
- Serve chilled.