In my monthly wrap-up, I briefly mentioned watching the Today Show with Hoda and Jenna while I work out on the elliptical at our community gym. Hey, it passes the time and I don’t have to talk to my neighbors.
Anyway, a few days back, their guest was a chef who demonstrated a recipe for an alternative Tabouli salad. If you have had this Mediterranean staple, you know it is made with bulgur wheat as the base. The recipe being demonstrated used cauliflower as a substitute for wheat.
Hmmm…not only do I love cauliflower, but I love cutting calories too, so this was right up my alley. I assumed the recipe would be on their website, but I couldn’t find it, so last night I recreated the salad from memory. ????
Hells, bells, it actually turned out really good, so today I am sharing my version of the ‘maybe I got it right, maybe I didn’t’ Tabouli recipe with ‘What’s On Your Plate’, hosted by Donna and Deb. Do drop in for a visit at their blogs and contribute something delicious to the table.
Ingredients
- 1/2 head cauliflower – grind in a food processor to resemble rice
- two green onions – chopped (including the green part)
- two medium tomatoes – seeded and diced
- two hothouse cucumbers – English or Persian (seedless, thin-skinned) – chopped
- 1 cup of chopped parsley
- 2 tablespoons chopped dill (I think mint would be better)
- juice from 1 1/2 lemons
- olive oil (two parts oil to 1 part lemon juice)
- 2 garlic cloves finely diced
- salt, pepper to taste
Assemble the chopped vegetables into a mixing bowl. Mix together the lemon juice, crushed garlic, and olive oil. Pour the dressing over the mixture and toss. Keep refrigerated until ready to eat. It was still delicious on day two.
We served it with steak kabobs, but I think lamb would go really well too, especially if you substitute mint for the basil in the salad.
Join the Link and join the fun!
Picture Retirement 
Very fancy and creative Suzanne – and healthy too – so win/win. We’re heading into winter and I’m now getting my head back from salads and into vegies!
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Ha, ha, next time I’ll have to feature a hearty soup!
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This sounds absolutely fresh and delicious! Thanks for joining in, Suzanne 💕
Deb
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You are welcome. It was a recipe worth sharing.
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Sounds delicious. I was aware of cauliflower rice, as we’ve sometimes made it in the past. But, it is time consuming and a mess for us as we cut all the cauliflower in tiny pieces and a lot of those go astray in the camper (or previously in the boat). It’s been a while since we used it in a meal, so I might try your salad with it one of these days. Yum!
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Liesbet, the food processor is a must for this recipe, but I’ll likely leave it behind at my MIL’s since storage space is limited at the new apartment – essential items only! Malcolm and I have very different ideas about what is essential 🙂
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Hi, Suzanne- Thank you so much for joining us. Your recipe looks delicious. I’m very impressed that you recreated it from memory. I will definitely give it a try.
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Donna, I have no idea if I got it right or even close, but it was tasty. Knowing the general ingredients of traditional Tabula is helpful, as is intuition. Thanks for hosting.
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I’m afraid raw cauliflower gives me gas!
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I just picked up a recipe book that had been recommended by another blogger: The 5-Minute Salad Lunchbox. It is full of interesting, mostly healthy, salad recipes (although “5-minutes” may be a vast understatement since many of them require lots of chopping and/or cooking of some ingredients). Anyway, your recipe looked familiar so I looked in the book and found something very similar. Now that I’ve read your recommendation of this salad, I’ll put it towards the front of my “must try” list.
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Janis, I imagine it must be pretty common, what with the Mediterranean diet being so popular. I am curious about the differences in the recipe. Does it call for mint? I didn’t include that, but I think it should be in the salad. Maybe I mixed up basil and mint in my memory…The 5-Minute Salad Lunchbox sounds like a cookbook I’d enjoy.
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Yes, the recipe calls for mint (and dill and parsley), all roughly chopped. The book contains a bunch of healthy, interesting salad recipes. I want to add more of them to my lunchtime rotation.
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I love cauliflower, usually I just steam it with some seasoning or I make soup. This recipe looks easy and delicious 😋
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Gilda, I love cauliflower soup, but my favorite way to make cauliflower is roasted. I toss small flowerets with a bit of olive oil, scatter them on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with sea salt, Roast at 350 for about 25 to 30 minutes until edges start to brown. They are great as a side dish or snack.
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Looks delicious and sounds ezpz to make. Thanks for the recipe.
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I’m impressed Suzanne! I’m not sure I could recreate a recipe from memory–and have it be edible anyway. This looks delicious. I’m a big fan of cauliflower too. Thanks for sharing.
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I have to say it sounds good. Always nice to have a change, Suzanne.
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I love tabouli salad and this looks like a nice refreshing addition with an unusual ingredient that’s definitely unexpected. Fun to take tried and tested recipes and switch them up a bit. I’ll have to give it a try.
Peta
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