Quinoa Tabbouleh
9 Comments
When I planted my kitchen garden this spring, I decided, sort on a whim, to put in a few Brussels sprouts plants. I've never grown them and I thought it'd be a blast to see what would happen.
Lo and behold, I've got a parsley 9-1-1! The poor plants are being overrun. And some other herbs, too. There's also oregano under those big leaves.
I need to use up that parsley before it gets run out of Dodge. And I have a feeling most people who buy a bunch of parsley at the store have the same feeling: what am I going to do now with all this?
So it's back to our regularly scheduled program: fridge salads. Today's whole grain version is a whimsical one from Bruce. It's like a traditional tabbouleh but with red quinoa instead of bulgur wheat. Honestly, it's a lighter treat on a hot summer day. This salad has been a staple around our house for the last week as the temperature has skyrocketed into the 90s.
So here we go.
First, put 1 cup red quinoa in a medium saucepan and cover it with cool tap water to the depth of a couple inches. Set the pan over medium-high heat and bring the water to a boil. Reduce the heat, stir once in a while, and cook until the quinoa grains are tender, until each has that familiar halo around it, about 15 minutes, maybe 20 if the quinoa was stored on the shelf a long time and is particularly dried out.
Drain the pan in a fine-mesh colander, cool for 10 minutes or so, then scrape those tiny, pesky quinoa grains into a large bowl.
Next, add all of this: 1 medium zucchini, turned into threads by running it over the large holes of a box grater; 1 large tomato, diced (no need to seed--more moisture is a good thing); 3 medium scallions, green part only, minced; 1 medium garlic clove, minced; 1/2 cup minced parsley leaves; 6 tablespoons olive oil; 5 or 6 tablespoons lemon juice (depending on how tart you want it); 3 to 4 tablespoons minced dill fronds; 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest; 1/2 teaspoon salt; and 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.
Stir well, then store in the fridge, covered in plastic wrap, for up to 3 days, munching on as much as you want for lunch. It's a great cure for a parsley emergency--and a great salad for any summer day.
Reader Comments (9)
Thanks for the visual on the brussels sprouts - I'll be sure to plant mine with ample room around if I try some for a fall harvest!
And yes, tabbouleh (and falafel) are always my go-to dishes when I've got a surplus of parsley. Have you tried adding some Italian olive oil-packed tuna?
Casey: It sounds great with that olive oil tuna! I'll admit that I'm down to eating meat at most once a day--but it can certainly imagine its being good. You might not even have to add the olive oil to the salad itself.
M.
When I have too much parsley in the summer, I make pasta and add a ton of fresh tomatoes, a ton of parsley, olive oil, pecorino romano and a tiny bit of crushed garlic. (Works with basil too.)
Sounds great to me! Can't get enough of that pecorino.
M.
It has to be Italian parsley though...
Watch out - those Brussels Sprout plants are still babies! They can get to 4 feet tall x easily 2 feet diameter -- they need a LOT of space, and each produces a LOT of Sprouts, too. You know the sprouts grow on the main stem of the plant, sort of at the leaf nodes, like little sucker plants, right? It will take some time til you get there, but fresh picked and quickly steamed they are stunningly good compared to any you've ever bought from anywhere.
Nice salad recipe, too -- you don't wash the quinoa first to "remove the bitter saponoids" as most recipes direct? I always wondered if that was bogus, since the quinoa we get is pre-processed. I like feta cheese in a similar salad, for a creamy/salty note. And arugula, if you've got it, and if you like it.
Karen: I so love it when the sprouts come in at our CSA in the fall that I wanted to try my own and see what happens. I can't wait. I love Brussels sprouts. We get a stalk a week through the winter and eat the whole thing down, begging for more. So we'll see if we can keep up with such abundance.
No, Bruce doesn't rinse the quinoa, mostly for exactly the reasons you've stated. If you're buying it in bulk, it's still a good idea to rinse it because of cross-contamination problems at the market. But I've only run into those bitter buggers from the stuff we've bought at South American markets, not here.
Sounds lovely to add some feta to this. And of course arugula. The more greens, the better.
M.
I'm not a huge fan of parsley, but if you throw it in the food processor with basil, garlic scapes (yum), anchovy paste, olive oil, and red wine vinegar, it makes a sauce that tastes good on bread, goat cheese, pasta, meat or fish. Or on a spoon. Here is the actual recipe (but I don't include the bread, I have a phobia of soggy bread): http://heavytable.com/bagnetto-verde-with-scapes/
I need to get some quinoa and try this salad!
Kori:
Sounds absolutely divine! I'll certainly give it a whirl. Thanks for dropping the recipe here. And fear not the parsley. You can always cut it back. It's just so essential to that traditional tabbouleh taste--and so went into this mash-up of the classic with quinoa.
M.