Cauliflower Tabbouleh | Everyday Dorie

Dorie calls the cauliflower tabbouleh a time-honored salad moving into the 21st century. I can’t agree more since cauliflower has become so popular and indispensable in a vegetarian diet in recent years. Can you think of any vegetable getting more attention and makeovers than the cauliflower? Even in this blog space, cooked or uncooked cauliflower shows up on toasts and pizza. Chefs cleverly disguise it and call it rice or couscous. Here it’s transformed into tabbouleh.

The biggest advantage in using cauliflower is that it’s gluten free —  skipping grains all together.

Besides the fact that cauliflower is taking on grains as a plant-based alternative, it is remarkably versatile to assume diverse flavors. In other words, cauliflower is no longer bland by partnering with big flavors. Think za’atar and aloo gobi.

Cauliflower plays well in a “grain” bowl, a salad, or as a vegetable side. It can be anything and goes anywhere. When there is cauliflower in the fridge, you can turn it into a wide range of dishes, depending on your mood. Doesn’t that sound like a chameleon? Don’t take my words for it. All you need is to check out the colored varieties of cauliflower in the market — in lovely shades of yellow, green and purple.

In the cauliflower tabbouleh, we use the typical white cauliflower (one head). Pulse the cut-up cauliflower pieces in the food processor in super-short spurts until you get granules. The choices of ingredients in the salad are endless, as long as they are chopped and diced to the same size. To add heft, a cup of cooked chickpea* will do. To taste, season the tabbouleh with salt, ground pepper and a tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil. The following is a list of ingredient suggestions. (Ingredients with* are included in my salad.)

• For sweetness and chew: cranberries* or golden raisins
• For crunch: walnuts* or almonds
• Other veggies additions: celery, carrots, red onions, yellow beets, apples
• For herbs: fresh mint, parsley*, cilantro, scallions*
• For acid: lemon juice* and zest,* pickled cucumber and juice

Surprised how easy it is to put together a light and bright salad like this even in the winter months, when the selection of fresh vegetables is limited. Serve the salad with grilled fish or roasted carrots, squash or sweet potatoes. What a healthful and mindful eat moving into 2022!