Out of all the vegetables at the market, we can’t think of any that has made a bigger comeback during these last years than the cauliflower. Both Luise and I remember cauliflower as an often over-cooked side dish drenched in cheese, from when we grew up. Now it has become the surprising star of many dishes and is being prepared in an endless amount of ways. In our home, we blanch the cauli’ and serve it as a side with some black pepper and a good cold-pressed oil, we roast it and use in salads, we cut it thin and eat it as a raw carpaccio, we mix it in patties and soups. And of course, the latest classic – use it as a pizza base. In our new book we have krkrkkrkrkrkrkrkrkkrkrrk (this sentence has been removed due to spoiler alert reasons – you just have to wait until 22nd September!). We have yet to find a way to incorporate Cauliflower in a dessert, but that is probably only a question of time.
Today we have mixed raw cauli’ into a couscous-like texture that can be used as a grain free alternative to regular wheat grain couscous. We give it a quick boil to get rid of the raw odor and to make it easier to digest, then toss it with an ocean of fresh herbs, spring peas, pepitas and crumbled feta cheese. It’s dinner in no-time and a very fresh, delicious and nourishing one. Perfect for the picnic basket as well.
If you have any ideas of your own on how to further prepare the mighty cauliflower, please share in the comment section below. And the same goes if you have any good cauliflower subs, for those of you that aren’t too fond of it – has anyone tried using broccoli instead?
If you want a quick dessert to go with this quick dish, check out our 5-minute avocado chocolate mousse. We have just posted the recipe video on our YouTube channel.
Warm Cauliflower ‘Couscous’ with Green Peas & Herbs
1 head of raw cauliflower
2 handfuls mixed parsley and basil
70 g / 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
juice of 1/2 lemon
a drizzle cold-pressed olive oil
sea salt and black pepper
200 g / 7 oz / 2 cups frozen (thawed) or fresh peas
100 g / 4 oz / 1 cup feta cheese, crumbled
sprouts or micro greens to garnish (we have used purple Shiso leaves here)
Bring a saucepan with water to boil. Meanwhile coarsely chop the cauliflower and place the florets and stem in a food processor or blender and process until fine couscous- or rice-like texture. Do it in batches if you have a small food processor. Pour the cauliflower into the boiling water, lower the heat to simmer and cook for about 3 minutes. Meanwhile finely chop the herbs, toast the pumpkin seeds in a skillet on low-medium heat until golden. Drain the cauliflower ‘couscous’ in a sieve and place in a large serving bowl. Add herbs, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper and combine everything. Add peas, pumpkin seeds, crumbled feta cheese and toss until mixed. Garnish with sprouts or micro greens. Serve warm or chilled. Keeps for a couple of days in the fridge.
PS. We also wanted to let you know that we have redesigned and rebuilt our two iPhone and iPad apps, Green Kitchen and Healthy Desserts. They are now completely integrated with iOS7 and have a stunning new look.
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