As a vegetarian, I love eating veggies. So the recent craze of making everyday recipes using vegetables in place of non vegetable things is right up my street (did you see my courgetti pasta recipe?). This cauliflower ‘cous cous’ is no exception.
Cauliflower is a bit of a recent hero in fact. Have you tried cauliflower rice, pizza or mashed potato? I love them all and would bet anyone that they wouldn’t be able to guess that the key ingredient was cauliflower in any of them. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE carbs, but sometimes knowing you are eating a whole load of goodness just feels right.
Anyway, back to this salad. It uses cauliflower instead of cous cous, and is a perfect summer meal or BBQ accompaniment. I’ve topped it with grilled halloumi, but you could replace that with chicken or fish, or just have it on its own in a big bowl, eaten with a spoon. Totally guilt free!
It is pretty easy and you’ll be able to knock it together in fifteen minutes or so. I have even taken it in a lunchbox to work as it lasts a day or two in an air tight container.
This recipe will make enough for two for main meals along with a protein, or sides for more.
For the salad:
1 cauliflower, cut into florets and de-stemmed
seeds of half a pomegranate
half a red pepper, diced
half a yellow pepper, diced
one handful of sun-dried or fresh cherry tomatoes, chopped
one handful of mint, chopped
one handful of fresh coriander, chopped
a handful of pine nuts, toasted
salt and pepper to taste
For the dressing:
The juice of 1 lime
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
pinch of chilli flakes
To top: try grilled halloumi, chicken breasts or fish fillets.
To make the cauliflower cous cous:
Put your cauliflower into a food processor and pulse a handful of times until it looks like cous cous.
Then add all your other ingredients and mix together.
For the dressing, mix together the dressing ingredients. You can add a bit more cider vinegar/honey depending on how sweet or sour you like it.
Pour on top of your cous cous mixture and stir in well to ensure all the cauliflower is coated in your dressing. Season with sea salt and black pepper to taste.
If you are topping with a protein, grill until cooked and either pile on top or cut into chunks and mix in to the cous cous.
Et voila! The easiest, healthiest, satisfying salad you could ask for. And not a salad leaf in sight!
Share with friends at a BBQ or over lunch to impress them with your nutritious culinary expertise!
If you give it a go (which I encourage you to!), tag me in your pictures with #greeneyedcooks so I can see your delicious creations!
And of course, I love to read your comments (it makes me feel like I am not just blogging for my cat!)..leave them below!
Claire x
