Name: Quinoa Tabbouleh
Prep time: 10 min
Ingredients: 1 C quinoa (rinsed & drained); 2 C water; 1 English cucumber (peeled & chopped); 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes (quartered lengthwise); 1 bunch flat leaf parsley (finely chopped); 6 green onions (chopped); 3 T bottled lemon juice (or the juice of 1 fresh whole lemon); 1/3 C grapeseed or extra virgin olive oil; 1/4 tsp sea salt; dash of pepper; pinch of crushed red peppers

Fybromyalgia and Gluten

This is one of the first recipes that I started making once my husband was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, and through testing found that he needed to avoid gluten. You can read more about our journey with Mayo Clinic and more for his fibromyalgia journey, in my “About” section. I was trying to figure out how we could get protein in our diet while also avoiding gluten for my husband, and peanut & shellfish for my son who has an anaphylactic allergy.

Top 8 Free Recipe

We have continued to make this salad to this day, and even my other children love it so much they specially request it often. As a matter of fact, anytime that I go to a church function, family get together, or other gathering where I can bring a salad to share – this is the salad I bring. Everyone always loves it and asks for the recipe because it’s unique, yummy, healthy, and allergy friendly. This salad is top 8 free meaning that 90% of the allergens people have are made up of the following singularly or as multiple allergens: peanut, tree nut, dairy, egg, soy, wheat, fin fish and shellfish. This salad is not only top 8 free, but gluten-free to boot – yahoo!!

A Spin on a Tradition

Traditional Tabbouleh is made with wheat berries (wheat bulgur) that are boiled and dried. I love it with quinoa – love, love, love! Try it out and let me know what you think?

Change it Up & Make it Yours

This is a very forgiving recipe, and you could play around with the additions to the quinoa. Sometimes I use traditional red grape tomatoes, but I love the way it looks when I get my hands on a pint of the mixed colored grape tomatoes in red, yellow, and a greenish color. In a pinch when I couldn’t find fresh parsley, I have subbed dried herbs just fine, and have used about a 1/4 c dried parsley subbed in just fine. It really is better with fresh herbs though!

Make Ahead, Enjoy Later

Also, you can eat this salad fresh immediately upon fixing, but it really tastes better after chilling in the fridge for at least a couple of hours or even overnight. I will sometimes make this salad at the beginning of the week, and then take servings our for lunch each day as the week goes on.

Spicy or Not Spicy?!

I also like mine super spicy, but my kiddo’s do not. So I only add a pinch of crushed red peppers to the original batch, but then pour it on to my individual serving. Gimme all the crushed red peppers! I love those guys on my pizza too! Anyone else?!