Living in a Chilean neighborhood full of street vendors selling tasty looking, cheap fried food, it would be so easy to eat out all the time. But, I’m trying to have self control, at least during the week (see my previous entry for evidence of what I do on weekends) and make healthy dishes which are both tasty and nutritious. This is one of those recipes. In fact, if I weren’t so into trying new dishes every week, I think I would make this for lunch again next week. It was that good. It's going to be perfect for the hot summer months in Santiago and should be good for all of you up north enduring the toasty summer!
When I saw this recipe, quinoa tabbouleh, I thought instantly, “sacrilege!” Tabbouleh is supposed to be made with bulgar. Soon, however, I had to admit that though I love tabouleh, it’s often hard for me to find bulgar. Maybe I’m just not looking in the right places, maybe the fact that I didn’t know the word for bulgar in Spanish makes things difficult (fixed by a google search, it’s trigo bulgar). Whatever the case is, I decided to make this recipe because it used the readily available quinoa which I have sitting in my cupboard. Filled with tons of fresh herbs from mint to parsley (bought at my favorite marketplace of course) this recipe was divine and tasted to me like real tabouleh. I’ll let you readers decide though. Write to me and let me know what you think if you’re actually out there!
Quinoa Tabbouleh (lightly adapted from Gourmet)
Yield: 6 servings
1 cup quinoa, rinsed well
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt plus some
2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
1 large English hothouse cucumber or 2 Persian cucumbers, cut into 1/4" pieces
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
2/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup chopped fresh mint
2 scallions, thinly sliced (I declined to add these because of my aversion to onion-like things but go right ahead)
Directions:
1) Bring quinoa, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1 1/4 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until quinoa is tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
2) Meanwhile, whisk lemon juice and garlic in a small bowl. Gradually whisk in olive oil. Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper.
3) Allow quinoa to cool and transfer to a large bowl; mix in 1/4 cup dressing. Note: This can be made 1 day ahead. Cover remaining dressing and quinoa separately; chill.
4) Add cucumber, tomatoes, herbs, and scallions to bowl with quinoa; toss to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Drizzle remaining dressing over (I thought this ended up being way to much dressing so I didn't add it all).
