Quinoa Tabouli

The price of tomatoes here seems to be slowly coming down to earth, so it seemed like a good time to share one of my favorite new recipes.  As I mentioned in Spicey Lentils, quinoa is one of those foods I think I should eat more often, but forget about.  This is one recipe (yes, I mostly look at the actual recipe) that hasn't let me down yet.  Delicious every time, great cold, easy to make the night before.  I usually use my food processor to pulse/chop most of the ingredients, and I often make 1.5 or 2 times the recipe.  My mom, in Florida, passed this recipe onto me from Amy Peterson, in Wisconsin, and now it is back in the Middle East!

Ingredients: 

1 cup of quinoa

2 cups of water

2 medium tomatoes chopped

6 green onions chopped

1 medium cucumber chopped

1 small green bell pepper chopped

1 cup chopped parsley

1. Rinse quinoa and cook according to instructions (until water is absorbed).
2. While quinoa is cooking, chop up all the ingredients above. 

3. When quinoa has cooled sufficiently (to not "cook" the veggies), mix all the above ingredients together.

Dressing:
whisk together:

1/3 cup lemon juice*

1/3 cup olive oil

1 clove garlic (finely chopped)

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

*Go easy on the lemon juice if you have a nice fresh, sour lemon.  I like it with lime juice, cumin, and fresh mint.
I prefer a very clean hand when it comes to mixing.  I find it's the best way to break up clumps of parsley and quinoa, and gentle on the tomatoes.

For another gluten-free tabbouleh option, replace the quinoa with a head of cauliflower, shredded in the food processor.