September RotM: Easy Quinoa Tabouli

Happy September, everybody! September is easily my favorite month, when the days get a little cooler, the air a little crisper, the leaves a little crunchier. Ugh. I love it. Bring on the fire pits and flannel.

Along with the seasonal shift, I'm transitioning from raft guiding back to teaching yoga full time, meaning many dinners spent at the studio between classes and the need for an easy, healthy, mobile meal that I won't get sick of.

While living in France, one of my go-to lunches was a ready-made tabouli salad (tabboulé en français) that I could just grab from the grocery store on my way to school. Tabouli (or tabbouleh, or any other of a plethora of variations) is a Lebanese dish of small diced vegetables, parsley, and bulgur or couscous as the base. Many adaptations have emerged from the traditional dish, all simple, light, and delicious. In this variation, I use quinoa as my base for an extra protein punch to make it as good of a meal itself as it is a hearty side.

Easy Quinoa Tabouli

Makes: ~3 cups

Prep: 20 minutes

Total: 20 minutes

For the salad:

1/2 c quinoa

1/2 c each:

cucumber, finely diced

cherry tomatoes, quartered

red onion, finely diced

parsley, finely chopped

For the dressing:

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 c olive oil

salt & pepper to taste

1. Prepare quinoa as instructed. Allow to cool.

2. Add veggies and parsley to the cooled quinoa and toss.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil until a dressing forms. Season with salt and pepper to taste and then toss with quinoa mixture. Enjoy cold and keep in the fridge for up to 5 days

Das it. So easy. So delicious. So healthy. Eat it as a side or throw it in a wrap or bowl with some falafel or roasted chickpeas. This salad also travels really well, which makes it great for a picnic. Toss a tupperware and a couple forks in your backpack and enjoy it on a cool autumn hike. Happy munching!