Simple Cool Summer Quinoa and Kale "Tabouli Salad" -vegan, Gluten-free

One of my favorite cooling salads for a hot Summer's day is my version of the Lebanese Tabouli  Salad. The main ingredients for the Classic Tabouli salad is cracked wheat and parsley.  I am making this gluten free so I am using Quinoa, a grain high in protein, easy to cook, and replaces the cracked wheat beautifully. It can be purchased at any Health Food Store or grocery store.  I bought a big bag at Costco. Instead of using parsley, I used chopped up Kale. I love eating raw veggies and the Kale worked well.  This recipe is simple, fast and tasty.  It's a nice dish to serve for lunch.

   1 Cup cooked Quinoa, 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil, 3 Kale leaves, 1 cucumber, 2 tomatoes, Juice of 1/2 of a small lemon, salt and pepper 1 Cup111111 , mint (,,

This is the hardest (? not really hard?) part of the recipe.  In a sauce pan, add 1 cup of Quinoa.  Wash it, drain it and add 2 Cups of water. Cover and bring water to boil.  Turn down heat to medium.  Cook about 20 minutes until the water has evaporated.  In the last few minutes of cooking, check to see that the water has evaporated. If you take your eyes off of it then, it will scorch - I know, I learned from my inattention. You want the Quinoa to be nice and fluffy.

Wash Kale, slice off ribs, chop into small pieces.

Wash veggies. Chop into 1/2" pieces.

Make sure you Quinoa is cool before adding the tomatoes, kale, and cukes.

In a large bowl, toss quinoa and veggies.

Squeeze lemon for lemon juice. Add juice of 1/2 lemon to the salad.

Add 3Tablespoons of some nice olive oil.

Add salt and pepper to taste.  You may also add some dried mint leaves (optional).  Classic Tabouli uses mint.  I sometimes add it and it does give another dimension to the salad. 

Garnish it with olives and enjoy!