Le chou fleur imposteur – Taboulé de chou fleur violet avec tomates, concombre, et menthe à la vinaigrette de citron vert

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Another fresh and delicious recipe for those who think they don’t like cauliflower. I might be wrong and maybe those who really hate cauliflower will not try this recipe, but I think they should give it a try. That’s what I absolutely love about vegetables is that you can make anything you want out of them, no matter their shape or color. So something as un-gracious as a cauliflower head, can become a wonderful taboule-like salad or side dish. As soon as I see something with such a bright and beautiful purple color, I need to buy it, it’s a uncontrolable attraction. It can be anything, even a sweater as a matter of fact, but this time it was at the Rainbow and not at Macy’s, and it was a vegetable. I guess, I remained the girly-girl who loves anything colorful and vibrant. I think we need to color our lives otherwise it gets dull, and I think it should start with the food we eat.

Ingredients for 3-4 as a side dish

  • 1 purple cauliflower
  • 1 tomato
  • 1/2 english cucumber or 2 persian cucumbers
  • 2 tbs mint, chopped

Vinaigrette

  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • juice of one lime
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 1/2 tsp cumin powder
  • salt and pepper

Instructions

First wash the cauliflower, then break into florets. Using a cheese grater (I use the larger grid so that you get a grainy texture, if you grate it too thin, you won’t be able to cook it, it will just turn into some mushy texture), grate each floret and keep grated cauliflower in a big enough container.

Bring about 1 liter of water to a boil, add salt. Add grated cauliflower, and boil for about 3 minutes. Drain well and set aside until it cools it down.

Chop the tomato and cucumber (remove cucumber seeds) in small cubes. When the cauliflower is cold, add tomatoes, cucumber and mint, salt and pepper.

For the vinaigrette, add all the ingredients together and mix well. Then add to the taboule.