Tabbouleh Salad with Quinoa Recipe and Homemade Pita Chips

I have been trying to use quinoa in our diet more lately. I even made a quinoa mac and cheese which I will post about later. I feel quinoa is a better carb than most, especially white rice, potatoes, pasta and bread. I don't want to cut carbs out of my diet all together because I don't feel that is a balanced diet and I end up craving and caving. So I have been looking for more ways to use quinoa. Not only is it a good carb but it also is high in protein. Not as high as meat but higher than other types of carbs. I believe my quinoa package says that there are 6 grams of protein per serving.

In my fridge I had cucumbers and tomatoes and we are growing mint on the balcony. So I thought I would like to make a Tabbouleh salad with the quinoa instead of the Bulgar wheat. All I needed from the store was a little bit of parsley, lemon and feta.

While I was on my road trip we had dinner at my dads house. They use quinoa a lot and I asked them how they cook it seeing as I have had a bit of problems with cooking mine. You can read about what happened when I made my quinoa black bean burgers here. 

I asked my dad's wife if she rinsed her quinoa before she cooked it and she said that she did not. That all she does is measure two cups of water for one cup of quinoa. Puts it on the stove and waits for it to boil. Once it boils she said to turn off the burner and let it sit for 15 minutes. I did this and it was a lot better than before when I made the quinoa burgers.

While the quinoa was cooking I chopped the cucumbers, tomatoes, garlic, parsley and mint. I threw it all in a bowl with the feta.

After the quinoa finished cooking I took it out of the pot to cool. I didn't want the hot quinoa to wilt the veggies so I wanted it to cool.

While waiting I decided to make some pita chips to eat with the hummus I got from Sprouts, Aleks and my new favorite store. I cut the pita bread in 8 pieces and then took each segment apart. I like to do it this way because then I get more chips and they get crispier.

I like to use my toaster oven most of the time. This way I don't end up heating up the house like if I used the regular oven. I lined the tray for the toaster with some foil and put a little bit of olive oil on top.

I like to put salt and pepper in the oil and rub the pita pieces in the oil. Then line them nicely on the tray and pop um in the toaster for about 5 minutes. 

They come out all nice and toasty and crisp. Great for dipping in the hummus.

By this time the quinoa has cooled and I add it to the bowl with the veggies and cheese. Then I put one teaspoon of olive oil and juice of half a lemon.

Stir it all up so all the ingredients are evenly distributed and the flavors can marry.

Serve up the salad with a side of pita chips and hummus and enjoy.