Gluten-Free Tabouli Salad (Quinoa Tabbouleh) And Fermented Tabouli Recipe
This gluten-free Tabouli Salad is made with quinoa and parsley. It's the most popular Lebanese salad and can be preserved by fermentation. You'll find the complete instructions for both, the fresh and fermented Tabouli salad here.
Equipment
- A large Strainer - to rinse the quinoa
- A 2 quart pot - for cooking the quinoa
- A large bowl - for mixing the salad
- A food processor - optional (I prefer hand cutting)
- Cutting board & knife
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Quart sized measuring container
- Large spoon
Ingredients
- ¾ cup Quinoa seeds
- Water - 2 cups for soaking and 1¼ - 1½ cups for cooking
- 3 bunches Parsley - approx. 3 cups chopped and packed down
- ¼ cup Spearmint - or more to preference.
- 4 Tomatoes
- 2 Green onions (scallions) - or ¼ cup chopped onions
- 2 large Garlic cloves
- ⅓ cup Olive oil omit when fermenting
- ¼ cup Lemon juice, fresh squeezed (omit when fermenting), bottled is ok in a pinch
- 1 tsp Salt increase when fermenting, see fermentation notes
- ½ tsp Pepper
Optional:
- 1-2 spicy, hot jalapenos or serranos
- 1 tsp crushed coriander seeds
- 1 Cucumber, chopped
- ½ cup Hemp seeds - or to taste
- ¼ cup Fermentation brine (juice) of any vegetable - use this as a kickstarter for fermentation. But it is not necessary. See fermentation instructions below.
Instructions
Prep the Quinoa
- Optional step: It's best to soak the quinoa for 2-12 hours before cooking, to neutralize the phytic acid that locks up the nutrients in the seeds.
- After soaking, catch the quinoa with a strainer.
- Rinse the quinoa in the strainer very well until the water runs clear.
- Add the quinoa to a pot with the 1¼ cups of water. If you didn't soak the quinoa, use 1½ cups of water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes on low. Take it off the heat but leave the lid on, and let it sit another 5-10 more minutes. Take off the lid, fluff with a fork and let cool completely.
Prepare The Dressing
- Add the olive oil and lemon juice to the large bowl.
- Crush the garlic cloves with a garlic press or chop finely and crush with the flat of your knife and add it to the olive oil.
- Sprinkle the salt, pepper, and coriander seeds over it and mix well.
- Add the quinoa, stir, and let it soak up the brine for a few minutes while you prep the vegetables.
Prepare the veggies
- Using a knife or food processor, finely chop the parsley and dump into the large bowl with the quinoa.
- Finely chop the mint and add to the parsley.Finely chop the onions, add to the parsley.
- Finely chop the mint and add it to the parsley.
- Finely chop the onion, and add it to the parsley
- Chop the Tomatoes and add them too.
- Add optional hemp seeds, chopped cucumbers, diced hot peppers if you’re using them.
- Toss to combine all ingredients well.
- Serve now or let it meld in the fridge overnight to improve the flavor before serving.
Fermentation instructions:
- Prepare the recipe as written above, except do not add the lemon juice, olive oil and salt.
- The olive oil gets added after it is done fermenting, or right before serving.
- The salt gets increased to 3 teaspoons. So add 3 teaspoons of salt in place of the one teaspoon.Optional: Add ¼ cup of fermentation juice from a previous ferment and decrease the salt to 1½ teaspoons. The lemon juice will make the ferment too tart, so don’t add it. However, if you have fermented lemon paste, you can add a couple of teaspoons of that for a great flavor and add a quarter cup of the fermented lemon brine to kick-start fermentation and reduce added salt as mentioned above. You can use any other fermented brine instead of the fermented lemon brine.
- Toss everything well, let it sit in the bowl for about half an hour.
- After that, stomp with a pickle packer or a sturdy glass mason jar to coax out the juices and pack into a half gallon canning jar. Add water if necessary to just barely cover the ingredients.
- Tightly close the lid and put it in a warm spot to ferment for 3-4 days.
- After 2 days see if it needs burping (unscrew the lid by half a turn and listen for gasses escaping. Tighten back up and do that again a day later.
- After 4 days, taste it. If it tastes fermented and starts to get sour, you can place it in the fridge. For long storage, I like to pack the salad into a quart jar to almost the top rim, to get rid of the airspace and reduce the chance for mold to grow on top. Then I pour a little olive oil over the top to keep out oxygen while it's aging in the fridge. Don't add the olive oil if you're keeping it in the cellar. Enjoy now or let it age for a while, and be sure to keep it well sealed. This should keep for several months to a year in the fridge or cellar. You can find more detailed fermentation instructions in my post on fermenting vegetables.
Storage
- Store the fresh tabouli in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. The fermented tabouli can be stored in the fridge or cellar for up to a year.
Notes
Tips And Substitutions For The Best Gluten-Free Tabouli Salad
- You can, of course, use fine bulgur or coarse bulgur, the original grain, instead of quinoa. Just soak in hot water overnight, drain well and add.
- Quinoa is milder than amaranth, but amaranth is a great substitute for quinoa if you are already growing it. Lambs quarters will also work. A good reason to embrace your weeds other than using them for a spinach substitute. And btw, quinoa leaves are used in place of spinach where ever it grows.
- Mint can be omitted if you can't get any fresh. It adds extra flavor, but I have made tabouli many times without it and it's still delicious. Do not substitute dried mint.
- I like to sneak in a hot pepper or two. Because that's what I always do. Diced bits of red jalapeno or serrano work great.
- This is best made a day ahead to give the flavors a chance to meld.
- Serve with more proteins to make it a full meal. Top with chicken, fish, shrimps, chick peas, black beans, grilled beef strips etc. I love adding some feta or soft clabber cheese, chevre, or quark cheese.
- Ok! Some say that the parsley should never be processed in a food processor. Others advocate it. I've done it either way. The food processor does help get the parsley chopped nice and small fast, but I prefer the texture of hand cut, hands down! Don't hesitate to include some of the more tender stems, but I'd pass on the tougher main stems. They are better used making a vegetable or bone broth.