Quinoa is a great alternative to Bulgur wheat for making tabbouleh–not that there’s anything wrong with bulgur.  I just happened to have a large bag of quinoa in the house, and tabbouleh sounds great on this very warm summer day.

It’s still spinach season, so I’ve added lots of chopped spinach, plus parsley, mint tomatoes, lemon and olive oil.  This is a bright, assertive but refreshing dish.  Diced cucumber would be great, although I don’t have any in the house today, so I skipped it.  I don’t add raw garlic or scallion because I don’t like them, although most recipes for tabbouleh call for one or the other.

This dish is great as a lunch on its own (sprinkled with some feta) or a side dish to grilled meat.  It’s great cold from the fridge or at room temperature.

Quinoa and Spinach Tabbouleh

serves 2 as a main course

2 cups cooked quinoa

2 cups chopped fresh spinach

1/4 cup coarsely chopped parlsey

1/4 c mint leaves, coarsley chopped mint leaves

1/2 pint grape tomatoes, sliced in half

1 cucumber, peeled and diced into 1/4″ cubes (optional)

juice of half a lemon

3 tbls extra-virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and taste–add salt and pepper.