Quinoa Salad

Most grains will make a great base for an impromptu salad. This quinoa based salad is a take on traditional middle eastern tabbouleh. Bulgar is normally used in tabbouleh with parsley predominating.

This quinoa salad is another example of using up what's on hand, especially the day before market day. With a cuke and a few grape tomatoes, a bunch of parsley and a bit of red onion, a cup of quinoa was quickly turned into a great luncheon salad.

Salad

1 cup uncooked quinoa

1 cup diced cucumber (without seeds)

1/2 cup diced red onion

1 bunch of flat leaf parsley, minced.

Dressing

Juice from half a lemon

1 TBS olive oil

salt to taste

cayenne (if desired)

I tend to like spicy hot foods. This batch received a generous sprinkling of Penzey's

Black & Red pepper (ground tellicherry and cayenne).

Quinoa just about doubles in volume when cooked. These amounts produce, without measuring too carefully, 3.5 cups of salad.

The salad would be great with a few other vegetable additions, sweet bell pepper, perhaps and definitely should be served with a sprinkling of toasted nuts or seeds. Suggestions: toasted pine nuts, pistachios, walnuts or sunflower seeds.