Quinoa Tabbouleh Recipe

This classic Middle Eastern salad gets a turbo charge of Quinoa, making it a highly nutritious dish containing all the essential amino acids

Assemble Ingredients

1

Weigh out all the ingredients.

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Chop Cucumber & Tomato

2

Cut the tomato and cucumber into small even sized pieces.

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Salt the cucumber and tomato

3

Add a teaspoon of pick salt to the diced cucumber and tomato. Leave to marinade for 10 minutes. This technique extracts excess liquid and improves their texture.

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Strain

4

Add the salted cucumber and tomato to a strainer and leave to sit and drain the excess liquid. 

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Chop red onion

5

Finely chop the red onion. You may wash the chopped red onion to remove excess bitterness. (this is optional)

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Slice cooked green beans

6

Add green beans to boiling salted water for 2 minutes - refresh in ice water to preserve color. Slice the cooked green beans 

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CHOP CHOP!

7

The secret to a good tabbouleh is lots of fresh chopped parsley. I like chopping it by hand, you can use a blender.

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Chop mint

8

Finely chop fresh mint. I suggest using a good sharp knife so you do not bruise the mint too much.

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Wash quinoa

9

First step is the wash the quinoa before cooking.

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Rinse quinoa

10

Drain the washed quinoa.

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Cook quinoa

11

Add 1 part quinoa to 3 part water to saucepan along with some salt for seasoning. Cook on a gentle simmer for about 15 minutes.

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Strain quinoa

12

Transfer the cooked quinoa onto a strainer to drain excess liquid.

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Top Tip 

13

I pour some boiling water from the kettle over the quinoa to wash some of the starch after cooking. Allow quinoa to sit on the strainer to cool - approx. 15 minutes.

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Make the vinaigrette 

14

Add the crushed garlic to a bowl, followed by the olive oil, lime juice, salt and pepper. Mix with a spoon and fork - It's ready to go. Simple as that!

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Mix tabbouleh

15

Add all the prepared ingredients to a large mixing bowl. Season with some vinaigrette. 

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Mix well 

16

Mix well and taste a couple of times for seasoning.  Add more vinaigrette, salt or pepper. 

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Add sunflower seeds 

17

Transfer quinoa tabbouleh to serving bowl and garnish with sunflower seeds.

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Quinoa Tabbouleh Complete  

18

And there you have it... A totally delicious Middle Eastern classic, full of protein, complex-carbohydrates, fiber, fats and minerals.  Happy cooking my friends.  Full recipe on my website

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