gluten free roasted cauliflower tabbouleh – geroosterde bloemkool tabbouleh (GF-DF-V-SF)

Yes, this is such an incredible gluten free tabbouleh. I love it. I still remember eating my first tabbouleh in Portugal, about 30 years ago, with some friends, near the seaside, at the family restaurant of an Algerian cook. It was so amazing, the crunchiness of the herbs with the earthy taste of bulgur, a touch of cucumber and tomato. And that with some roasted sardines fresh from the sea onto the grill. Life was great!!

Replacing the bulgur isn’t easy at all; I once bought some gluten free couscous, but it was just some sort of broken rice, which turned into a soup when prepared. No success at all.

Somewhere on the internet I read about using raw cauliflower, but I wasn’t sure about that, too harsh! Then I found this idea of roasting the cauliflower and I thought, yes, this might be it. And after testing, I can assure you, it is divine. Try it and be convinced.

You’ll need:

1 big head of cauliflower

2 tbsp of olive oil

Pepper and salt

1 big bunch of parsley

1 handful of mint

4 spring onions or same amount very finely cut onion

1 small zucchini

1 handful of roasted almonds, for some crunch, roughly chopped

½ - 1 lemon, juiced

2-4 tbsp olive oil

First pre-heat the oven on 200°C.

Prepare the cauliflower by washing it and making small rosets. “Rice” them in a small kitchen machine by pulsing small batches at a time. Mix the cauliflower “rice” on a baking tray with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and some salt and pepper. Roast the cauliflower for 30 minutes, stirring after 15 minutes. Set aside and let the lightly browned cauliflower cool down a bit.

In the meantime cut parsley, mint and onion with a sharp knife very fine. Set aside. Juice the lemon. Toast the almonds and let them cool before cutting them roughly.

Slice the zucchini and cut into small cubes. Put aside too.

Assemble the tabbouleh:

Put the cooled cauliflower “rice” in a big bowl and add chopped parsley, mint, onions and almonds. Mix with your hands.

Add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and olive oil and season with some salt and pepper. Mix well and taste. Add more of the lemon juice or olive oil to your own taste. I like a tangy tabbouleh. Great with some roasted fish.

Serve at once or let it cool in the fridge for some hours.

Je hebt nodig:

1 grote bloemkool

2 el olijfolie

Peper en zout

1 flinke bos peterselie

1 handvol munt

4 lente uitjes of zelfde hoeveelheid heel fijn gesneden ui

1 kleine courgette

1 handvol geroosterde amandelen, grofgehakt

½ -1 citroen, sap

Verwarm eerst de oven voor op 200°C.

Was de bloemkool en verdeel in roosjes. Maak “rijst” van de bloemkool door de roosjes in een kleine keukenmachine te pulseren. Doe dit in kleine gedeeltes.

Meng op een bakplaat de bloemkoolrijst met 2 eetlepels olijfolie en wat peper en zout.

Rooster 30 minuten in de oven, roer na 15 minuten door elkaar.

De bloemkool wordt lichtbruin; zet opzij en laat afkoelen.

Ondertussen snijd je de peterselie en munt zeer fijn. Zo ook de ui. Rooster de amandelen en laat afkoelen voordat je ze grof hakt. Pers de citroen uit.

Snijd de courgette in plakjes en vervolgens in kleine blokjes.

Samenstellen van de tabbouleh: 

Doe de afgekoelde bloemkool in een ruime kom en meng met de fijngesneden kruiden, ui,courgette en amandelen. Voeg eerst 2 eetlepels citroensap toe en 2 eetlepels olijfolie. Breng op smaak met peper en eventueel nog wat zout. Proef en voeg naar smaak extra citroensap en olie toe. Ik hou van een zurige tabbouleh, lekker met geroosterde  vis. Dien meteen op of laat heel koel worden in de koelkast.

Summer vegetable tian – zomergroente tian (GF-DF-SF-V)

This classic Provencal oven dish is called a tian, named after the earthenware pot which is used to give the dish its distinct flavour. But you can also use another type of oven dish.

The tian is filled with the rich flavours of courgette, aubergine and tomato, summer flavours, enhanced by a persillade, a mixture of garlic, basil and parsley and a good splash of extra virgin olive oil.

You can prepare the dish in the morning, so you just have to put it in the oven in the evening. It’s a light dish, which you can eat with a piece of fish or an omelette and some salad. The next day, you can eat the left-overs, if there are any, cold, as an anti-pasta.

I am quite busy in my garden right now and the vegetables are growing so hard, as well as all the wild flowers and uninvited plants, which we call weeds. There is a lot to weed now!!

Every time I go there it amazes me that out of a tiny seed, such richness can grow. I adore my garden, go there almost every day, just to be there, to work a bit and take some lovely vegetables home to cook. Like this beautiful Golden Burpee. I cooked it, peeled it, sliced it and ate it with just a bit of dressing, wow! Heaven!!

For the tian recipe (2-3 pers) we need:

1 medium aubergine/ eggplant

2 medium courgettes/zucchini

2 big juicy tomatoes

½ cup chopped parsley

¼ cup chopped basil

2-4 cloves of garlic, finely choppped

Pepper

Sea salt

I like to slice my vegetables fine, 3-4mm, because then you can make a lot of layers which will melt in your mouth after baking.

When you are going to bake the dish after preparation, pre heat the oven now on 160°C.

First we slice the aubergine/eggplant. Lightly salt the slices and place them in a colander for 30 minutes, so the moisture can release. Rinse them quickly and dry with paper or cloth towel.

In the meantime you make the persillade: chop garlic, parsley and basil very fine and mix together. Set apart.

Slice zucchini and tomatoes.

Take a stone/ovenware dish and brush lightly with some olive oil and begin layering the vegetables:

1 layer of tomatoes, 2 layers of zucchini, 1 layer of eggplant, sprinkle with some persillade and pepper and salt. Then repeat until you used all of the ingredients. 

Drizzle generously with olive oil.

Bake the tian in the oven for 1 hour and 15-30 minutes, till the vegetables feel tender when you pierce them with a fork.

Make sure that the vegetables don’t brown too quickly, by checking them regularly and if so, place a lid or a piece of aluminium foil on top.

Voor de tian (2-3 pers) hebben we het volgende nodig:

1 medium aubergine

2 medium courgettes

2 flinke sappige tomaten

½ kop fijngehakte peterselie

¼ kop fijngehakte basilicum

2-4 tenen knoflook, fijngesneden

Peper

zeezout

Ik hou ervan om mijn groentes vrij fijn, 3-4mm, te snijden, zodat ik veel lagen kan maken en ze uiteindelijk op je tong smelten na het bakken.

Als je het gerecht meteen wilt bakken verwarm dan nu de oven voor op 160°C.

Snijd eerst de aubergine en leg ze in een vergiet, besprenkel ze licht met wat zout en laat 30 minuten staan zodat de sappen eruit komen. Spoel ze snel af en droog met theedoek of keukenpapier.

Ondertussen maak je de persillade: hak de knoflookteentjes, peterselie en basilicum fijn en meng door elkaar. Zet apart.

Snijd courgettes en tomaten.

Olie de ovenschaal licht in met wat olijfolie en begin dan met de lagen in de volgende volgorde: 1 laag tomaat, 2 lagen courgette, 1 laag aubergine, besprenkel met wat persillade en peper en zout en ga zo door tot alles is opgebruikt. 

Besprenkel royaal met olijfolie en bak de tian in het midden van de oven, 1 uur en 15-30 minuten, tot de groentes zacht zijn als je erin prikt met een vork.

Mocht het gerecht te hard bakken en te bruin worden, leg dan een stuk aluminiumfolie of een deksel op de schaal.