Gluten Free Tabbouleh Salad (with Quinoa)

5 from 4 votes

Gluten Free Tabbouleh Salad (with Quinoa)

This gluten-free tabbouleh salad blends authentic Lebanese taste with gluten-free eating by using quinoa in lieu of bulgar wheat.

Servings:

Ingredients

6 bunches of Italian parsley about 8 cups of chopped parsley
2 cups cooked quinoa about ¾ cup of dry quinoa** see notes
6 medium tomatoes
2 spring onion sprigs or substitute a small white onion
5 large lemons
1 bunch of fresh mint
½ cup olive oil
salt to taste

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Cook quinoa and set aside to cool down. The easiest way to cook fluffy quinoa is to boil it in a lot of water until tender and then strain the excess water with a strainer.
Remove the parsley leaves from the stem. Chop very finely. Add the chopped parsley to a large strainer bowl. Remove the mint leaves. Chop the mint finely, just like the parsley. Wash the chopped parsley and fresh mint in a large tub of water.
Slice the tomatoes in thin circles. Slice the tomatoes long ways then horizontally into fine pieces about the same size as the chopped parsley.
If you are using spring onion, slice the spring onion into thin pieces. If you are using white onion, slice the onion just like you slice the tomatoes.
Using a lemon juicer, squeeze the lemons.
Add the chopped parsley, chopped mint, chopped tomatoes, cooled quinoa, and chopped onion in a large bowl. Add olive oil, lemon juice, and salt to taste. Mix well.

Notes

You can substitute cracked bulgar wheat #1 instead of quinoa to make the authentic Lebanese tabbouleh recipe. Soak 1 cup of dry bulgar wheat in a warm cup of water until the bulgar wheat is soft (about 1 hour). Drain and add to the salad.
You can add an extra ¼ cup of olive oil, depending on the taste.
Storage: Store the quinoa tabbouleh salad in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days. In my honest and humble opinion, tabbouleh tastes better the next day. The salad sweats a little bit overnight, so don't be surprised by the level of salad juice the next day. The salad juice actually has a name, zoom, and it's not your conference calling software.
Other ingredient notes:
- Quinoa: Cook the quinoa ahead of time so it can cool off a bit. I prefer white quinoa because it's the closest color to bulgar wheat.
- Fresh mint: This is a really important ingredient in this recipe. Actually, it's the secret ingredient, and only a privileged few know about this secret ingredient.
- Onion: You can go a few different ways here. I normally make my tabbouleh with half spring onion and half white onion. However, you can choose to use only spring onion or only white onion. Either way, the quantity will be the same. Substitute red onion, yellow onion, or brown onion for white onion.
- Fresh tomatoes: I use tomatoes on the vine for my tabouli recipe. Tomato quality makes a difference; you want to splurge a little on some good red and juicy tomatoes.
- Lemons: You will need fresh lemon juice for this recipe made from squeezed lemons. Bottled lemon juice doesn't taste the same.
- Olive Oil: Use high-quality extra virgin olive oil not blended with any other oils.
- Italian parsley: Tabouli salad uses a whole lot of parsley. Flat leaf and curly parsley are the two main fresh parsley types found in your local grocery store. I recommend flat leaf parsley (also known as Italian parsley). It resembles cilantro (coriander) but doesn't taste like cilantro. Be careful not to buy cilantro because you will end up with pico de gallo instead of tabouli.

Nutrition