Quinoa Tabbouleh | Busy But Healthy

Hi all! Its been a really really long time since I posted a recipe (gulp, like….seriously guys, its been almost a year!). As with many of you, life has gotten really busy. In March of 2016 I went back to work full time. Previously I had been doing social media work part-time and also managing this blog, which was my third baby for quite a few years. I made the tough decision to step aside from the blog to focus on my career. I expected to be able to continue blogging part-time, but between work, the girls and managing a household, I never had any time leftover to blog. I do tend to update my Instagram quite a bit (a mix of family and food), so I’d love if you joined me there too!

Surprisingly though, I’m still making many of the recipes on the site here. Since we’re in summer, some of my favorites include….the Black Bean Summer Salad, Creamy Macaroni Salad, Goji Berry Chickpea Salad and Light Caesar Potato Salad

So now that I’ve given you a little update, lets chat about this delicious Quinoa Tabbouleh I made the other night. The flavors in here are so fresh and light and perfect for summer!  If you’ve never had tabbouleh (pronounced tab-booli, or tab-boo-lay…I’ve heard it both ways!) now’s the time to try it. Its very simple to make, the only work really is the chopping of the veggies and herbs as you want them chopped up into small pieces.

I used quinoa in this version as I wanted to keep it gluten-free. Traditionally, tabbouleh is made with bulgar, which is from wheat.  I also used a lot less oil than what’s in the traditional recipe.  This batch makes a lot, and I managed to only use 1/4 cup oil. Many recipes I’ve seen call for almost 1 cup of oil in a batch half the size.  If you aren’t a fan of some of the ingredients in this, you could switch it up for other herbs. Alternatively, you could use cilantro instead of mint, or use all parsley. I used flat leaf parsley as its a little more mild than curly parsley, but feel free to use whatever is available to you.

For the quinoa, I used my rice cooker to make it versus the stove-top method. I tend not to have the best of luck with quinoa on the stove. I’ve had it become mushy or get burned on the bottom, but with the rice cooker it always comes out perfect. If you don’t have a rice cooker, just make the quinoa according to package instructions. If you think you’d use it, I’d definitely consider getting a rice cooker. I use mine weekly for white and brown rice, quinoa and sometimes even millet. It works with any grain really.

The main dish I made to this side was marinated, grilled chicken. Steak or grilled tofu would also be great!  If you’re looking for a new summer salad that’s easy and delicious, I hope you give this a try!