Parsley is the real star of any tabbouleh. In this recipe bulghur wheat is replaced with tiny pieces of cauliflower for extra veg.
When searching for some foodie inspiration I often have a good rifle through my ever expanding collection of cookbooks. Sometimes it doesn’t matter how many times I’ve flicked through the same book I can still find that something new catches my eye – or I think of a different technique to adapt a dish. I’ve a really good book based around seasonal ingredients and this tabbouleh idea was plucked right from the colourful summer section, probably because I already had a stack of fresh parsley already in the fridge.
Since I already have a tried and tested Tabbouleh recipe in my box of recipes (I have a box with bits of paper cut out of magazines, and recipe notes from friend) this is what I used as a base for my dish. Although instead of the regular bulghur what I subbed for some cauliflower broken down into grain sized pieces in food processor. This makes this version of tabbouleh gluten free, and with extra veg.
Tabbouleh is definitely meant to be a herb-based salad so the more greens the better. The cauli absorbs the flavours of the dressing really well, so this is especially wonderful the day after making.
This is a great make-ahead picnic or BBQ idea.
- Half a medium sized head of cauliflower, grated (for speed I use the grating attachment on my food processor)
- Juice of a lemon
- 2 cloves of minced fresh garlic
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp ground coriander
- Pinch Himalayan salt
- ½ large cucumber, finely diced
- 1 large tomato, de-seeded and diced
- Big bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley, shredded with a knife (inclusion of stalks optional)
- Big bunch of fresh mint, shredded
- 3 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive-oil
- I prefer to roast the cauliflower in a Tbs of coconut oil in the oven for 25 minutes at 180 deg C. Much 'toastier' than steaming and closer to the texture of the bulghur wheat it is replacing.
- Meanwhile make up the dressing. Mix the minced garlic with the lemon juice, spices and salt. Do not add the oil at this stage as the oil sticks to the spices, and the flavours develop better this way. Set aside.
- When the cauliflower is cold, combine in a large bowl with the cucumber, tomato, and herb leaves. Combine the olive oil with the dressing and toss with the salad.
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