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Quinoa Tabbouleh Recipe

Quinoa is kind of amazing, isn’t it? It’s a grain…or is it? Is it a seed? I don’t know. All I know is that is a super food. Like throw some tights and a cape on that stuff kind of super. 

It’s one of my favorite things to make along with some chicken or salmon for a quick and healthy dinner. But sometimes it can be kind of bland. Which is what makes it the perfect canvas for a tabbouleh! 

Tabbouleh is a traditional Middle Eastern chopped veggie salad that can be made with a variety of ingredients from parsley to mint, cucumbers to tomatoes. But the true star of the show is parsley. If you don’t like parsley, then you probably won’t like this recipe.

Just telling it like it is. 

For my tabbouleh, I kept things simple with parsley, tomatoes, red onion, and lemon juice along with olive oil, salt and pepper. 

Normally I would say just chop up a tomato, onion, and parsley and toss it in the quinoa. But onions can come in lots of sizes and I don’t want you to go overboard with the onion…or the parsley. 

Once all the veggies are chopped up (I can’t believe I am about to say this…), measure them. I’m not a bit measuring person when it comes to throwing a dinner together. Most of the time I do, since I now I will have to publish the recipe. But a little part of me dies every time. I am more of a “pinch of this, dash of that” kind of girl. 

Add your measured veggies to the quinoa. Or don’t. Live life on the edge and throw the whole tomato in there. No one will know except you.

Then toss everything together with a bit of a lemon juice-olive oil dressing. 

Now you could eat it right away. But I would implore (you know I’m serious when I go to the thesaurus to look up synonyms for “urge”) you to let it rest for at least 10 minutes. You want that lemon juice and olive oil to marinate, bathe, steep (sorry, took it too far with the thesaurus) the rest of the salad. It will help take the bite out of the onion and soften the parsley. 

This bright and fresh quinoa salad makes the prefect healthy side dish for anything from some delicious chicken (like my favorite Chicken Doner), steak, fish, or even just on it’s own!

Remember how I said quinoa was the super hero of all grains (or something like that). What makes it so great is that it’s a complete protein. I think it might be one of the only grains/cereals that is a complete protein (don’t quote me on that…I can be wrong sometimes). That means that you can eat this salad all on it’s on and get just about everything you need, nutritionally.

Told you quinoa was pretty super!

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How to Make Brussels Sprouts That Don’t Suck

Brussels sprouts get a bad wrap, don’t they? When made poorly, they are bitter, chewy, and tasteless. However, if you have ever ordered Brussles sprouts at a restaurant, you know they have lots of potential! Most of the time its bacon that gives Brussels sprouts so much potential. But it doesn’t have to be that way!

Well, other than bacon, there is a reason why restaurant Brussels sprouts are so much better and it all comes down to how they cook them!

I’ll get to that in a second, but first lets go over how to prepare them.

I like to start by cutting all my sprouts in half first. I cut off the little nub of a stem, then cut them in half. If there are some dirty or ragged out layers, I peel those off so I have a nice clean Brussels sprout. 

Cutting them in half is just one way you can prep Brussels sprouts. You could leave them whole, but I find that they don’t always cook all the way through. You could also shred them to add to a salad or saute them in a little oil to get nice and crispy.

Now lets get to how to cook the sprouts. 

The trick is blanching the Brussels sprouts first. Blanching them all but eliminates the bitterness that these sprouts are known for. To blanch them, I drop the sprouts into a pot of boiling water for a couple minutes. You will notice that the green will become a bit more vibrant after they have been blanched. Then I immediately drop them into some ice water to stop the cooking process. 

After they have cooled, I drain off all the water and pat them dry. Then I drizzle them with some oil and sprinkle on salt and pepper. 

My favorite way to cook Brussels sprouts is to saute them in a cast iron skillet. The outer layer becomes nice and crispy and then I drizzle in some balsamic vinegar which reduces and forms a nice caramelized glaze on the outside. 

I promise, if you follow these steps your Brussels sprouts won’t suck! And if all else fails….add bacon. 

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PIN NOW, MAKE LATER

5 Minute Cauliflower Rice

5 minute cauliflower rice | Follow the Ruels

I have been using cauliflower rice as a substitute for rice for years! But I hadn’t perfected it until recently. 

In the early days, my cauliflower rice (or cauli-rice) would turn out watery and a bit mushy. Everyone seemed to have a different method for making rice. One popular method says to make cauli-rice just as you would normal rice, by boiling the pulverized florets in twice as much water or broth. Well cauliflower isn’t rice and it isn’t going to soak up all that water so instead I would end up with mushy cauliflower soup.  

Regardless of the method, I found that just about every recipe took longer than anticipated to prepare. Chop the cauliflower, rice or process the cauliflower, boil or saute the cauliflower. It was very labor intensive for a side dish. Maybe I am just lazy, but this seems like a lot of work when I am trying to prepare a whole other dish.

Finally, I decided to take matters into my own hands and do things my way. After thinking it through, I realized the end result of cauliflower rice is just small pieces of steamed cauliflower. So why couldn’t I steam the cauliflower and then process it? That’s how I would make mashed cauliflower, why should it be different for the rice? 

It shouldn’t!

So here’s what I do:

First, I buy the cauliflower that has already been separated into florets. This saves me about 5 minutes I would spend hacking away at the cauliflower. Of course, if there is a good deal on a full head of cauliflower, I will buy that and put in the extra work. I’m a sucker for a good deal.

Then I steam the florets with a bit of water, salt, pepper, and garlic powder, which only takes 2 to 3 minutes. 

Finally, I toss in the florets (making sure not to add in any water that may be left from steaming) into my food processor and pulse about 15 times (more or less) until all the florets have been chopped down into itty bitty pieces. I watch this part carefully, because if I process too much, I will end up with mashed cauliflower. Which is perfectly fine, but that’s not what I am after.

5 minute cauliflower rice | Follow the Ruels

And 5 minutes later I have myself a nice big bowl of cauliflower rice. Soooo much easier, right? Dare I say easier than actual rice?

I will never hassle over cauliflower rice again! I am just trying to make a healthy choice, so why not make it as easy as possible. 

And for those of you who have never tried to make cauliflower rice, I hope this shows you how quick and easy it can be. And just like rice, it takes on the flavor of whatever you pair it with, so top it with teriyaki chicken, chicken tikka masala, carne asada, or whatever your little heart desires!

TIkka Masala-8

Enjoy!

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