Meatballs and Muffins

Since I posted my FALFEL recipe, I’ve been looking for a great tabbouleh recipe to make for our Sunday family dinner, but found most I came across used bulgar wheat. Now, if you follow my blog, you will probably know that Sunday dinner at our place is usually a gluten free meal and, if you’re curious as to why, just read my post about My challenge to cook gluten free meals.

Well, finally after some exhaustive searching, I came across a recipe for tabbouleh on the epicurious.com web site that uses quinoa instead of bulgar – YES! – and after trying it out and making some small adjustments, I settled on a version that has a little more zing that my family love.

So, this tabbouleh recipe is not only fresh, healthy and delicious, like tabbouleh should be, it’s also gluten free, easy peasy to make and … served with warm falafels … nothing short of sensational.

I urge you try out both the falafel and tabbouleh recipes. Trust me, you won’t regret it!

Even if you don’t have an intolerance to gluten, you will love this salad because the quinoa is lighter on your tummy and easier to digest – well, I think so anyway 🙂 What you need

• 1 cup quinoa
• Sea salt & freshly ground pepper
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (don’t even bother with the bottled stuff!)
• 1 garlic clove – crushed/mashed
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil (a great oil makes a huge difference to the taste)
• 2 Lebanese cucumbers – chopped into bite size pieces
• ½ cup fresh mint – chopped
• ¾ cup continental (flat leafed) parsley – chopped
• 2 spring onions (scallions)
• 1 punnet cherry tomatoes  – sliced in half

What to do

Place quinoa in a saucepan with 1¼ cups water and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to a slow simmer, cover and cook until  quinoa has softened – about 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Use a fork to fluff up the quinoa.

Spread quinoa out on a baking tray and allow to cool.

Meanwhile, whisk lemon juice, garlic together. Continue to whisk while adding a little olive oil at a time until it is all combined. Season with salt and pepper to your liking.

Place the cooled quinoa in a large bowl and drizzle with a ¼ cup of the dressing, toss to coat.

Add all the herbs and vegetables, toss combine.

Just before serving, drizzle the remaining dressing and toss through. Adjust seasoning if required.

Serve in a lovely shallow bowl, with warm falafel piled in the centre – DEL-I-CIOUS! We also love to add some Greek yoghurt for some extra tang.