Quinoa Tabouli

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Yield – 8 cups

Most people have tried, or at least heard of, the classic middle-eastern dish – Tabouli.  Typically made with Bulgur Wheat, this salad substitutes quinoa for the often hard to digest wheat.  Serve this go-to salad with blue corn tortilla chips or cucumber rounds for a healthy and addictive snack or appetizer.

Ingredients
3 cups cooked quinoa *
3/4 cup currants
1 cup seeded & diced tomatoes (approx 2 small) **
3 cups chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley ***
¾ cup diagonally sliced scallions, both white & green parts (approx 4)
1/3 cup lemon juice (approx 2 lemons)
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed ****
1 tsp sea salt
½ tsp fresh cracked pepper

Instructions
Combine quinoa, currants, tomatoes, fresh parsley and scallions in a large bowl. With a fork, toss the ingredients to combine.  In a separate bowl, whisk lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, sea salt & pepper. Pour over quinoa mixture and using your fork, re-toss.

Chill for 2 hours (optional) and serve.

* 1 cup of dried quinoa will yield 3 cups of cooked.  Simply follow the package instructions.

** To seed a tomato, cut the tomato in half from top-to-bottom and scoop the seeds and “gel” of the tomato out with your finger or a spoon.  It is not necessary to remove the more dense tomato “ribs.”  The tomato seeds are removed to avoid adding excess liquid to the salad.

*** A food processor is a quick way to chop this amount of parsley.  Remove the coarse parsley stems before chopping. Three large bunches of parsley usually yields 3 cups chopped parsley. The parsley should be dried thoroughly before chopping.  A salad spinner makes this a breeze, or pat it dry with a kitchen towel.

**** To crush garlic with a knife: Mince the garlic on a cutting board. Once minced, sprinkle a pinch of coarse sea salt overtop. Chop some more. Then using the flat side of a knife, carefully press down firmly on the garlic and drag the knife forward until the knife is no longer on top of the garlic. Lift the knife. Re-pile the garlic and start again until it forms a paste.