Quinoa Tabouleh Will Make you Drooly!

Boy, did I get busy in the kitchen today!  I was chopping and dicing like it was my job!  I love an afternoon of kitchen fun!  Forever on a quest for high protein, healthy vegetarian dishes, I was SUPER excited to learn this recipe last week.  I took a cooking class at a wonderful little cooking school in Studio City, CA called Cook L.A.  (Click Here to Learn More about Cook LA)  On this particular night, it just so happened that all menu items were vegetarian!  Bonus!  I loved all of the dishes we made that evening, but the Quinoa Tabouleh stood out as a wonderfully fresh summer dish that I would love to share with all of you.  That being said, full credit to Liz at Cook L.A. for the original recipe.  I tweaked it just a bit to my liking, as I'm sure we all do when it comes to loosely following a recipe.  (Except baking, I RARELY tweak a recipe when baking!)  Anyway, on to the goodness...

Here's What You Will Need:

1 Cup Quinoa (I used the Simple Truth organic brand from Ralph's)
2 Cups Water (or to punch up the flavor I used Simple Truth organic vegetable broth)
1 Bunch Parsley - chopped
3 Green Onions - sliced into thin scallions
3 Medium Tomatoes - small dice
5 Small Persian Cucumbers - sliced length wise and then chopped into 1/4" half moons (see photo below)
1/2 Medium Red Onion - medium dice
3 Cloves of Garlic - finely minced
Olive Oil (approx. 1/4 cup, but I just toss it on to taste)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Juice of a Medium Lemon (watch those seeds)

**Get creative and add a bit of mint, perhaps some diced watermelon, diced red and yellow bell peppers, or even some feta cheese!  However, the recipe above is bursting with flavor as is!**

1.  Step one is IMPORTANT!!  Dry toast the quinoa in a sauce pan before adding any liquid.  Stirring constantly, the quinoa will brown up a bit and smell almost like nutty popcorn!  Do this for 4 to 5 minutes.

2.  Add your water or vegetable broth to the quinoa and bring to a boil.  After it's boiling, reduce to a simmer.  Leave it uncovered and simmering until all liquid is gone.  Set aside to cool.

3.  In a large bowl toss together your parsley, scallions, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper, and lemon juice. (and anything else you've decided to add)

  

Here are your half moon cucumbers!

Look at that color palette!!

4.  Add your room temperature quinoa and mix together!  SERVE!!!  

This is a beautiful dish, bursting with flavor!  And it's quite lovely, aesthetically speaking!