An Engagement & A Recipe

Hello again, it has be a little while since I posted — but there is reason — My sister got engaged! I was so honored for her now-fiance to ask me to hide in the bushes and take photos of the moment. Such a lovely moment captured in photos forever.

{Joy's beautiful ring}

I wish you a very sweet engagement and pray that you are showered with love and blessings. Congratulations on your engagement!

And now — the recipe portion of this post. Totally unrelated to an engagement.

Tabbouleh is traditionally made of bulgur, tomatoes, cucumbers, finely chopped parsley and onion, seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice and salt. I usually make a gluten-free version using quinoa instead of bulgar. While eating lunch this past week a co-worker mentioned she accidentally picked up cilantro at the market instead of parsley to make tabbouleh. That got my mind working — why not try a Mexican variation of tabbouleh?

So here I present my recipe for a variation on tabbouleh: Gluten-Free Mexican Tabbouleh

1.5 c. quinoa

3 c. finely chopped cilantro

5 scallions, finely chopped

1 pint small grape tomatoes, halved

1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded and thinly chopped

1 c. corn kernels

juice of 5 small limes, more or less to taste

1/3 c. of extra virgin olive oil

sea salt and pepper, to taste

To cook the quinoa:

Rinse 1.5 c. quinoa in a fine sieve until the water runs clear, drain and transfer to a pot. Add 3 c. water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer until water is absorbed, 15-20 minutes. Set aside to cool. Fluff with a fork.

Combine all the ingredients together in a large serving bowl. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve room temperature or chilled. Enjoy!

According to Julia Child, the only real stumbling block is fear of failure. So why not take a favorite recipe, change it up, make modifications, see what delicious dish you can come up with? You might just end up with something great!