musings: traditionally, lebanese tabbouleh is made with mostly herbs, some tomatoes and a few grains of bulgur here and there. i wanted more of an “equal parts” dish. then, i thought i had a brilliant idea: what if i make it with quinoa? clearly not the first person to come up with this. but given that it is a vegetarian recipe, i wanted a way to incorporate some protein for my lunches this week (this is totally not a sad desk lunch and is super simple to make on sunday and pack for the week). the original recipe called for scallions, but i had my fair share of scallion cream cheese this week at russ & daughters this week, so i decided to go with shallots. this is also why i added a bit of honey (to bring out their sweetness). the result was bright, refreshing and delicious.
the ingredients:
1 1/2 cups quinoa (rinsed well)
1 lemon (zested and juiced)
1 tsp. honey
1 garlic clove (minced)
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large english cucumber (chopped into half half-moons)
1 pint cherry tomatoes (halved)
2/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley (i used a kitchen scissor to cut the leaves off; you want big pieces in here, and don’t worry if some stems get in as well.)
1/2 cup chopped fresh mint (see parsley note)
1 shallot (minced)
the method:
bring the quinoa, three cups of water and a good pinch of salt 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 the heat and let stand, covered, for five minutes. fluff with a fork.
meanwhile, whisk the lemon elements, honey and garlic in a small bowl. gradually whisk in the olive oil, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
in a large bowl, add the cucumber, tomatoes, herbs, and shallots along with the cooled quinoa, and toss to coat with the dressing. season to taste with salt and pepper, and enjoy.
slightly adapted from a bon appetit recipe.
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