The Inspiration of Urbnspice Series
I often make this Super Food Dish called Cauliflower Tabbouleh at the request of my family and friends. It is so delicious! I was inspired by one of my favourite chefs, Jamie Oliver and his Family Super Foods Cookbook. I have adapted his recipe for Herby Jewelled Tabbouleh Rice to accommodate grain free, gluten free and dairy free options by substituting the rice for cauliflower. The cauliflower can be steamed or roasted for this dish, which gives a completely different appearance and flavour. I use the fine shredding blade on a food processor or box grater to turn the steamed or roasted cauliflower into a rice-like product. It literally takes seconds to make an entire bowl of ‘cauliflower rice.’
How to Make Cauliflower Tabbouleh
CHEF TALK: This dish is incredibly delicious, nutritious and chock full of goodness. Choose the very best of ingredients: the brightest orange yam; the freshest head of cauliflower, and the most attractive pomegranate that you can find at the grocers. Pan roasting the diced yam is a great technique. It bejewels the dish even further with its bright orange cubes in this colourful side dish. If you steam the cauliflower, the cauliflower is a vivid white. If you roast the cauliflower and rice it, it looks like brown rice. As always, read through the recipe first as there are a few techniques and pointers to ensure your success in making this easy-to-make dish.
CHEF TIP: You will need to consider the size of the head of the cauliflower when allocating some of the ingredients. For example, if you have a larger head of cauliflower, you will require more lemon juice and olive oil, etc.
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 small head of cauliflower, cut into florets
- 1 small yam, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch dice
- 1 – 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 cup fresh mint, chiffonade
- 1/2 bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 2 green onions (scallions), sliced thinly
- 2 – 4 Tablespoons of lemon juice (depending on the size of the cauliflower)
- Zest of 1 lemon (reserve some for garnish)
- 1 – 3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pomegranate, seeded (reserve some for garnish)
- 2 Tablespoons shelled pistachios, toasted, chopped (reserve some for garnish)
- 3 Tablespoons roasted peeled red peppers in brine, diced finely
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Garnish:
- 1 – 2 Tablespoon feta cheese, crumbled (optional dairy)
- Pomegranate seeds, reserved from above
- Pistachios, chopped, reserved from above
- Parsley, chopped, reserved from above
- Mint chiffonade, reserved from above
- Lemon zest, reserved from above
METHOD:
- To Prepare the cauliflower: Use either of the following methods:
Steaming the Cauliflower: In a saucepan with a steam insert, place cauliflower florets and steam until al dente (5 – 10 minutes). Remove from the heat, refresh the cauliflower in an ice bath to stop the cooking process. Drain well and put into a large bowl to cool slightly.
Roasting the Cauliflower: Place Cauliflower florets on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Toss with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast at 35o°F for 20-30 minutes or until the cauliflower starts to brown around the edges (as shown in the photo below). Cool slightly. - To create the cauliflower rice: With a food processor and a fine shredding blade, process the cauliflower pieces by pushing the florets through the tube. Place the ‘cauliflower rice’ back into the large bowl. Set aside. (If you do not have a food processor, a hand grater or box grater will work just as well.)
- To Prepare the Yam: Preheat a large frying pan over low to medium heat. Pour the olive oil into the pan. Place the diced yams into the frying pan and pan roast until tender and golden in colour, spreading in a single layer and pressing down with a spatula. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cool. Add to the bowl, reserving a little for garnish.
- Chiffonade the mint, and chop the parsley leaves coarsely. Trim and finely slice the green onions, then stir this through the cauliflower rice along with the herbs, the lemon zest, the lemon juice, and olive oil. Reserve a little parsley, spring onion and lemon zest for garnish.
- To Prepare the Pomegranate: Cut the pomegranate in half, and then holding a half of the pomegranate cut side down in your fingers, bash the back of it so the seeds (arils) tumble out, stir most of them through the rice, then season and taste. Reserve a few pomegranate arils for garnish. (See my post on How to Cut a Pomegranate here)
- Dry the roasted red pepper with a paper towel. Cut into a fine dice. Add to the bowl of ingredients. Taste the dish and adjust for seasoning with salt and pepper.
- Crumble the feta cheese and sprinkle the reserved garnish ingredients over the dish.
- Serve at room temperature or chilled.
Here is your visual step-by-step procedure on How to Make Cauliflower Tabbouleh:
Start with a fresh head of cauliflower
Cauliflower Tabbouleh Ingredients
Preparation of Roasting Cauliflower
Roasting Cauliflower brings out so much flavour! And it is easy to do
Use the fine shredding blade of a food processor or grater to create the cauliflower rice
If you roast the cauliflower first and then rice it, it looks just like brown rice
Steaming the Cauliflower and then ricing it, it looks just like white rice
You Might Also Enjoy these UrbnSpice posts:
How to Cut a Yam – this post explains how to cut and dice a yam
Mango, Avocado, and Cucumber Salad with Lime Dressing
How to Chiffonade
Please CLICK the link above to access my UrbnSpice LEARNING TIPS, which are listed alphabetically on the Learning Tips blog post under the following subheadings:
- Ice Baths
- Toasting Your Nuts
- Tweaking
- Chiffonade
__________
Sources:
From Jamie Oliver’s Family Super Foods Cookbook: Juicy Griddled Steak and Brown Rice Salad
If you give this delicious recipe for How to Make Cauliflower Tabbouleh a try, please come back and leave me a comment below with your feedback.
You can find me on social media – just be sure to tag @urbnspice and #urbnspice so I am sure to see it. Enjoy!
Denise Paré-Watson
The Urbnspice Chef
Follow me on Social Media:
Urbnspice Facebook Page – if you like what you see here, please LIKE my Facebook page. I would love that. Thank you!
Urbnspice is on Twitter
You will find lots of fun boards on Pinterest
I am also on Instagram
I haven’t yet made cauliflower rice, let alone tabbouleh. But I love everything about this dish! Being vegetarian I am always looking for more ways to have tasty and nutritious meals and I can add now this dish to my collection. Thank you for sharing!
You will love having this dish in your repertoire, Nicoletta. It is so delicious and it keeps very well for several days. Please let me know if you try it. The pan roasted sweet potato is a great add-on in this dish. I freeze pomegranate arils/seeds when they are in season so I can sprinkle a few on this dish, but if they are not in season, a few cranberries are lovely, too. Thanks for your comments and for visiting UrbnSpice. I love hearing from you! 🙂
That’s a lot of chopping! Thank goodness for food processors…I bet this salad is worth it though. Nice work Denise!
Yes, the food processor makes this very easy, although the cauliflower is easy to deal with once roasted or steamed and easily chopped with a knife. It is a delicious dish and one that has fast become a family favourite. Thank you for your comments and for visiting UrbnSpice, Bernice.
I love tabbouleh,adding cauliflower is such a great idea!
Thanks, Pamela! It is a delicious dish. If you try it with your beautiful roof top garden grown cauliflower, please let me know ? I want to hear all about it.