Tabouli

A friend, who lived in Lebanon for a number of years used to make wonderful tabouli, and when she gave the recipe to her daughter- in- law, who was gluten intolerant, the daughter-in-law began making the tabouli with quinoa rather than bulgar.  I hadn't thought of that, but having tried it, I like it.  Maybe you will too.  Sadly, I never asked for my friend's recipe before she passed away, but I found two other recipes for tabouli that I like, and this is sort of a compromise between the two.

1 cup quinoa
2 cups of water

Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan.  Add quinoa, stir, cover, and turn heat down to low.  Cook 15 minutes.  Remove from heat and let stand, covered, 15 minutes.  Cool completely.  When quinoa is cool add:

1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/3 cup olive oil

Place the seasoned quinoa in a large bowl.  Add the following ingredients:

1 bunch green onions, chopped
4 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1  (15 oz) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cups finely chopped Italian flat leaf parsley
Fresh mint, finely chopped (optional)
1/3 cup olive oil
Additional lemon juice

          Stir well, and refrigerate about 2 hours.  Best if served at room temperature.

TIM'S NOTES:  I was not sure where to add the 1/2 teaspoon salt.  I added it to the cooked quinoa, but I suppose you could also add it to the quinoa when you cook it.  I added it later because I thought it might be better flavor-wise to leave the salt intact rather than dissolve it in the water.  Up to you and your judgment.
            As for the tomatoes, I used large Roma tomatoes.  I thought they would stand up better to the lemon juice because they have a little firmer, thicker texture than other tomatoes.
          One of the recipes called for 1 to 3 cups of parsley, and the other for 1 1/2 cups.  Add as much parsley as you like, but at least 1 1/2 cups.  I used a large bunch of flat leaf parsley, not measuring, but it was plenty.  Make sure to de-stem the parsley and use only the leaves for chopping.  I know this is a tedious job, and for many recipes I don't do this.  This recipe is so much nicer without pieces of stem. 
          As for the mint, one of the recipes called for 1/4 cup dried mint, or 1 cup fresh.  That is a lot of mint, and I wasn't going to get that much out of my small plant.  I would say that if you decide to add the mint, and you have fresh, add whatever amount you can.  I think the mint adds a wonderful flavor, but if you don't care for it, don't add it.
           And I would definitely add some additional lemon juice.  How much, is up to you.  I added about the juice of one lemon.  I can't tell you how much that is because I have a lemon squeezer, and I squeezed the juice of one lemon into the salad.  Mix up the salad first, add the additional lemon juice, and stir again.