Meet the lighter sibling of tabbouleh. Made with riced cauliflower instead of cracked wheat, it is every bit as delicious, but won’t make you feel stuffed after going back for seconds. I don’t know about you, but I can never stop at one serving of tabbouleh. I always go back for another helping, or when dining at home just the two of us, I keep visiting the serving bowl with my own fork: a little mindless bit here, another there as we talk about life, the mysterious process of bacterial iron uptake, or which brand of shoes could prevent my ankle from saying nasty things to me during a longer run. You know, real important stuff.
CAULIFLOWER A LA TABBOULEH
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)
1 head of cauliflower
1 tablespoon coconut oil (or olive oil)
salt and pepper
2 cucumbers, seeded, diced
2 large tomatoes, diced
2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves, minced (or 1/2 teaspoon dried mint)
1/3 cup parsley leaves, minced (or amount to taste)
2 tablespoons olive oil
zest and juice 1/2 lemon
Rice the cauliflower florets in a food processor, blender, or grating box. Heat the coconut oil (or other fat of your choice) on a large skillet, preferably non-stick. When the oil is hot, add the riced cauliflower, season lightly with salt and pepper, and move it around for a few minutes. Immediately remove from the heat and transfer to a dish to cool. I like to use a baking dish to get the cauli-rice well spread.
Add the cucumber, tomatoes and parsley to a bowl. Don’t be skimpy on the amount of parsley, and mince it very well. If using fresh mint, add it to the bowl too.
Make a quick and simple dressing with the olive oil, lemon juice and zest, add salt and pepper, dried mint if using it.
Add the cooled cauliflower rice to the veggies, pour the dressing on top and mix gently. It gets better with a little time in the fridge. Serve at room temperature.
ENJOY!
to print the recipe, click here
Comments: There are several ways to cook riced cauliflower, each with a slightly different outcome. When I enjoy it as I would real rice, I prefer to bake it. For this type of recipe, I’ve tried three ways: baked, microwaved, and sautéed in oil. I favored the third option because the texture was perfect to mimic cracked wheat. Baked would be my second choice, the problem is that the grains of cauliflower shrink a lot more in the oven. You can of course use any method you like, just make sure it is all at room temperature when you mix the fakebbouleh. As to the parsley, next time I will add more to my version. I love it and like my tabbouleh – fake or authentic – to be pretty “herbal.”
Next day leftovers were all I had for lunch. I did squirt a little more lemon juice on top because I believe there is never too much lemon on this type of preparation. It freshens up everything. One last thought before I leave you… I usually add a lot less dressing to salads than most recipes call for, so if you try this recipe, keep that in mind and consider doubling the amount. A touch of Maldon salt flakes right before indulging is not mandatory, but quite pleasant for the taste buds.
Dinner is served! Grilled chicken breasts were perfect with my fakebbouleh…
ONE YEAR AGO: Yellow Squash Soup
TWO YEARS AGO: Grilled Chicken with Tamarind and Coconut Glaze
THREE YEARS AGO: Chicken-Apricot Skewers
FOUR YEARS AGO: Asparagus Quiche
FIVE YEARS AGO: Two-stage Pea and Prosciutto Risotto
SIX YEARS AGO: Mellow Bakers: Corn Bread
Sally – somehow you ‘make’ me do things! Love tabouleh and have meant to try cauliflower rice forever: now with our winter vegetables season upon us and looking at your plate and having a huge laugh at being able to call it ‘fakebouleh’ it will be on my serving dish soon with whatever lean and mean protein I can find in the freezer . . . and what an attractive plate !!!
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Glad you enjoyed the post, and definitely give cauli-rice a try – if it wasn’t delicious, I would not blog about it, you can trust me on that! 😉
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Looks fabulous!!! I could happily eat a pile of that 😀😀😀 like you, I would increase the herbs, tabbouleh should be heavy on the parsley after all, but forget that for now, it looks lovely 🙂
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Yes, I should have used a much heavier hand with the parsley, but… there’s always next time!
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Always xx
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I also loooove tabbouleh, and will often use cauliflower – a wonderful surprise ingredients. And I am with you – I prefer to saute my cauli in oil. Have a nice weekend!
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Hope you had a nice weekend… thanks for stopping by to say hello!
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I’ve got to say, I’ve never tried cauliflower rice, but this recipe may actually change my mind. It sounds delicious! I know that feeling of going back for just a leeeetle bit more… again and again. Unfortunately for me, it’s usually cookies =)
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he, he, he… cookies can do that for me too, particularly if they are snickerdoodles 😉
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I’m married to a Lebanese man who knows his tabbouleh! We sometimes make it without the cracked wheat for ourselves, but with it for our kids and guests. I will definitely try your “fakebouleh”, love the name. I’ll let you know how it goes over with my husband 🙂
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Oh, my… now I am nervous, really nervous! Tell your husband I don’t normally mess with tradition, so be kind to me 😉
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Haha, he’ll be fine. We’re all about playing with different flavours in this house! I’ll try it and let you know how it goes 🙂
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Bonne appetit 💟
Sabrina ××
http://www.OrganicIsBeautiful.com
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Merci bien!
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Great substitution with cauliflower…love the name for the salad;))
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I got a kick with the name too! 😜
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