Cauliflower Tabouli
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Raw cauliflower tabouli is a fresh and zesty side dish.
I’m probably not the only one who feels like they are struggling to get in all their vegetables lately. We’re in that in-between stage of seasons, where one day summer is just around the bend and the next day is wind and rain and cold. It makes me want to just hunker down with a baguette and salted butter, but that kind of behavior is sort of frowned upon.
Lately I’ve been doing the 21 Day Fix Extreme workout, which gets me pretty sweaty and sore in 30 minutes, and then super hungry the rest of the day. The key, I’ve found, is making sure I have plenty of food already set to go. So I’ve been eating lots of pre-prepped foods like this cauliflower tabouli.
It’s extremely easy to make, especially because there’s no cooking involved. I like to pair it up with falafel or grilled chicken, but it works with practically anything as a replacement for your boring side salad.
Now, I’ve seen other recipes for cauliflower tabouli out there, and many of them don’t use enough parsley. In my opinion, at least. Traditional tabouli is composed mainly of herbs, not of bulgur, so when swapping in the cauliflower there should still be a lot of parsley. You can see that there is a lot of green in my cauliflower tabouli, intermingled beautifully with the cauliflower bits.
Obviously, if you’re not a parsley fan this tabouli might not be for you. But it also might make you change your mind about parsley.
I’ve already shown that parsley and cauliflower are great together in this roasted cauliflower with chimichurri. Adding mint and lemon juice brightens up the combination even more, and I love the crunchy cucumber here as well.
This recipe makes quite a bit, but it does keep well in the fridge. Because it’s raw and vegan, there’s nothing weird going on to make you worry about eating it a couple of days later. In fact, it might even be better after a rest in the refrigerator, because the ingredients have a chance to mingle.
Cauliflower tabouli is great served with my lamb merguez sliders, but if you want to keep it vegan you can just add some rinsed canned white beans or chickpeas, or cook up some falafel.
This recipe uses a food processor, so if you don’t have one it will take much longer to prepare. You could also try making it in a high-powered blender.
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower, about 2 pounds
- 1 bunch parsley, chopped
- 2 tablespoons chopped mint
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 clove garlic, grated or pressed
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 diced tomatoes
- 1/2 cucumber, chopped (about 1 cup)
- 1/4 cup diced red onion
Instructions
- Remove leaves and core from cauliflower and break into florets. Place florets in a food processor and pulse about 10 times, until pieces have broken down and resemble rice or couscous.
- Add parsley and mint and pulse again until uniformly mixed with the cauliflower.
- In a large bowl, whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, and salt.
- Transfer cauliflower mixture to the bowl, and add tomatoes, cucumber, and onion. Stir well to mix with the dressing.
- Serve immediately or chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.