Spring Amaranth Tabouli
Tabouli / Tabbouli / Tabbouleh (however you spell it) is a favourite salad in our house. It has so much great flavour, and it’s a fabulous way to use up a lot of parsley from the garden and mine is growing like mad right now. Typically, couscous is used in this salad, but for a gluten and grain free version, I usually make it with Quinoa. This time, to switch it up, I used Amaranth. Like Quinoa, Amaranth is technically a seed and has high protein content. It also contains saponins, and must be rinsed and cooked before eating. Amaranth is smaller than quinoa, so be sure to find a very fine sieve or cheese cloth for rinsing.
Amaranth has a nice nutty flavour and when boiled, it has a wonderful creamy texture, making it great for morning porridge. When it came to this salad, I didn’t want it to be quite so gummy and creamy, so I shortened the cooking time a bit and used less water. The Amaranth needs to be rinsed with cold water right away after cooking. You can use a fine strainer (it is a bit larger now after soaking up the water) for this. I gently press out as much of the cold water that I can and add it to my bowl of fresh herbs for tossing. Sprouting Amaranth for this salad is also an option. I personally don’t do well with sprouted grains/seeds; I need things cooked, but do what suits you best.
Traditionally, tabouli contains tomatoes, but I don’t have tomatoes anywhere near ready in my Canadian Garden right now, so in sticking to what’s in season, I am calling this a *Spring Tabouli*; adding spring onion, snow peas, mint and of course parsley. The snow peas add a nice sweetness to the spice of the parsley. This is perfect as a side salad for your BBQ or picnic this long Holiday Weekend. I enjoyed this as my lunch over a bed of baby beet greens that also added some sweetness to the salad.
Happy Canada Day LONG Weekend my Friends!!
- 1 cup whole grain Amaranth rinsed
- 2 cups of water
- 1 cup lightly packed flat leaf parsley leaves
- 2 large spring onions
- 1-2 tbsp chopped fresh mint leaves
- 1 cup of snow peas trimmed
- Juice of one lemon
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1-2 cloves of garlic pressed
- ½ tsp of sea salt or to taste
- Fresh ground black pepper to taste
- In a medium pot bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Add the amaranth and lower heat. Simmer covered for 15-18minutes. Remove from heat and rinse right away with cold water.
- While the amaranth is boiling chop the parsley and spring onions. Place in a large bowl adding the snow peas and mint.
- In a small bowl whisk together the lemon juice, oil, garlic, salt and pepper
- Place the cooked and rinsed amaranth in the large bowl with herbs, and stir in the lemon dressing.
- You can serve right away or allow to marinate for an hour or so.
- Cover and store in the fridge. It is even better the next day.
I shared this recipe with:
The Pennywise Platter
The Wellness Weekend
Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays
Fat Tuesday
Gluten Free Wednesday
