Brittany's Tabouli


1 cup quinoa, rinsed
2 1/4 cups water
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
4 roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 cucumber, peeled and diced
1/2 medium yellow onion
2-3 Tablespoons minced garlic
1 1/2 cups spinach, chopped
1 cup baby peas
feta cheese crumbles (optional)
salt and pepper
2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil


In a medium pan, bring water to boil and quinoa to a boil.  Turn down to medium to low heat, cover and cook for 16-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
While the quinoa is cooking, dice tomato, cucumber, onion and spinach.  When quinoa is done cooking, pour into serving dish and add lemon juice.  In the same pan used to cook quinoa, add extra virgin olive oil.  When that is hot, add onion and cook for 2 minutes.  Then add spinach and peas to pan and stir.  At this point, I put in 3 tablespoons of water and covered (just to make sure the peas had a hot bath to sit in and heat up).  But you don't have to do that if you don't want to.  When liquids have cooked out and it is heated through, add to quinoa.  Stir together. 
Place 1 cup quinoa mix on plate.  Top with tomatoes and cucumber.  You don't have to use feta cheese, though I highly recommend it.  I then drizzled a very small amount of extra virgin olive oil on top.  Sprinkled with salt and pepper.  


Serves 4-5

Quinoa Side Dish
*I got this recipe from allrecipes.com

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 
  
• 1 cup uncooked quinoa
• 
  
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 
  
• 2 teaspoons chopped garlic
• 
  
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, I used 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 
  
• 1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme, I used 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• 
  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 
  
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 
  
• 1 dash fresh lemon juice (optional)

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the quinoa, and toast, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in broth, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 15 minutes, or until quinoa is tender.

In a bowl, toss quinoa together with garlic, parsley, thyme, salt, and onion. Sprinkle with lemon juice, and serve.

Serves 4

This went perfectly with the Dijon and Panko Crusted Tilapia!  

Greek Quinoa and Avocado salad
*I got this recipe from bhg.com

• 1/2
  cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed and drained*
  
  
• 1
  cup water
  
  
• 2
  roma tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped
  
  
• 
  
  
  1/2
  cup shredded fresh spinach
  
  
• 1/3
  cup finely chopped red onion (1 small)
  
  
• 2
  tablespoons lemon juice
  
  
• 2
  tablespoons olive oil
  
  
• 1/2
  teaspoon salt
  
  
• Spinach leaves
  
  
• 2
  ripe avocados, halved, seeded, peeled, sliced
  
  
  
  
• 1/3
  cup crumbled feta cheese

In a 1-1/2-quart saucepan combine quinoa and water. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, about 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.


Transfer quinoa to a medium bowl. Add tomato, spinach, and onion; stir to combine. In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, oil, and salt. Add to quinoa mixture; toss to coat.


Place spinach leaves on 4 salad plates, I used a handful of spinach leaves. Arrange avocado slices on spinach leaves. Spoon quinoa mixture over avocado slices. Sprinkle with some of the feta.


 Makes 4 main-dish servings.

This is what the quinoa looked like before it was plated.  It was so pretty in the bowl!