Quinoa tabbouleh

I recently decided that it was high time I expanded my quinoa-cooking horizons.

I like tabbouleh and the idea of tabbouleh, but have probably actually eaten it only a few times in my life and I never really thought to make it before. But oh, the crazy places life takes us! One day I found myself with a bunch of parsley I'd impulsively bought at the farmer's market (sigh, a whole week earlier--I always feel guilty when I can't use everything I've bought before it goes bad or loses its farmer's market freshness) and the only thing that came to mind for using a lot of parsley at once was tabbouleh. After a quick consultation with my trusty How To Cook Everything (I didn't want to go back to the store), I learned that Mark Bittman was totally on board with using quinoa as a substitute for the grain in this recipe. For some reason I thought tabbouleh was made with cous cous. I guess that's how long ago I last ate it. But of course, the traditional grain is bulgur.

I finally succeeded in making a fluffy batch of quinoa and found that it's terrifically delicious as a tabbouleh. Quinoa....is there nothing you can't do? Quinoa really takes well to a bit of lemon juice, and the texture of the salad is delightful. I'm not sure if mint is traditional too, but mint is lovely with the parsley and the lemon.