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.

Almost green gazpacho – bijna groene gazpacho (GF-SF)

In the line of easy, fast, green and versatile recipes I made this beautiful gazpacho this weekend.

The sun was out for a change, and on my tiny balcony on the south side the wind had no influence so I came to the idea of a cold soup.

With all there was in my fridge and the herbs and very ripe avocado that I was forgotten, I made this  gazpacho or cold soup or maybe you could call it even a veggie smoothie. Anyway you name it, it’s delicious, lusciously smooth because of the almonds  and all the raw goodness of all these veggies and herbs! it's easy to make vegan, just leave out the yoghurt!

It’s a long list of ingredients, but all you have to do is wash the veggies and chop them roughly and throw them in a blender. Add anything you like more or less to your own tastes. This soup is all about tasting. You don’t have a green bell pepper, just use a red or yellow one, like I did. You don’t have a cucumber, maybe you have a zucchini. The same with the herbs, use what you have, sniff and taste and make your own heavenly blend.

Depending on the thickness, the amounts of liquids, this recipe makes about 1 liter of soup.

Almost green gazpacho

1 big celery stick

½ cucumber

2 handfuls of turnip tops (you could use spinach )

1 red bell pepper

1 avocado (or when not in the house just leave it out)

2 spring onions

1 clove of garlic

1 big handful of basil

1 big handful of parsley

1 big handful of coriander/cilantro

A few leaves of mint

75 g almond meal or ground whole brown almonds

2 tbsp fragrant vinegar like dandelion or cider

60 ml good olive oil

125 ml of full fat organic yoghurt (vegans can leave it out)

250 ml or a little more cold water

1 tsp sea salt

Ground pepper

Lemon juice to your taste

Clean and chop the veggies and fresh herbs roughly.

Add everything to a powerful blender and blend into a smooth soup.

Taste and add seasoning to your liking.

Eat it directly or cool the soup for several hours in the fridge.

                                           not very appealing as a picture, but very delicious

Bijna groene gazpacho

1 flinke bleekselderijstengel

½ komkommer

2 handenvol raapstelen (of jonge spinazie)

1 rode paprika (of groen of geel)

1 avocado (als je die hebt, anders niet)

2 lente uitjes

1 teen knoflook

1 grote handvol basilicum

1 grote handvol peterselie

1 grote handvol koriander

Paar blaadjes munt

75 g amandelmeel, of  gemalen niet-geblancheerde amandelen

2 el geurige azijn, zoals paardenbloem of cider

60 ml lekkere olijfolie

125 ml volle biologische yoghurt (of laat weg als je vegan bent)

250 ml of iets meer water

1 tl zout

Gemalen zwarte peper

Citroensap naar smaak

Maak de groentes schoon en hak ze grof, zo ook de kruiden.

Doe alles in een grote blender en mix tot een mooie romige soep.

Proef en voeg naar smaak toe wat de soep nog nodig heeft.

Eet direct of laat een aantal uren in de koelkast koelen.

Rome and 6 gluten-free summer dishes

Rome was great, in 1 word.

It was very, very hot, but that added to the feeling of being in the south of Europe in the middle of summer. I loved it.

I enjoyed walking around with my son, seeing all the historic sites, which I only knew from art history and books and films. The great thing is that you can walk in Rome, once in a while take a tram or bus but walking gets you to all the attractions and foremost to enjoy (normal)daily life which is on the street . Although it’s not normal at all that you have to visit the Vatican with 1000’s of others, shuffling in a row to see the Piéta behind a thick glass wall.

In Trastevere, where we stayed, there are so many small churches which contain beautiful sculptures and frescos, also from renowned artists, for me the small discoveries were my favorite.

As a person with celiac disease Rome is great too. Wherever you go to eat something, everybody knows what you mean. Although they don’t have a gluten-free menu they understand and propose something. That was my biggest surprise in Rome. Whereas in Holland celiac disease is still very unknown and I have so many encounters, also in restaurants, where people ask me: “Oh is that a new diet, but you don’t need that” or “so you cannot eat rice then or potatoes?”, in Rome you can go in any bar where they sell paninos and pizza slices for lunch, and they make you a salad filled with mozzarella, tuna, tomatoes, grilled aubergine and artichokes or what they have in the kitchen.

And after that a very good espresso

I did go to eat in 2 gluten-free restaurants (they are neighbors !) at the Piazza San Cosimato,the food and  the atmosphere were great, also a lot of Italian diners came to eat there too and that is always a good sign. We were there when Italy won the soccer match against Germany so that was a bonus too!

Near my hotel I discovered a gluten-free bakery: LE Ben, in summer it’s best to call them in advance and order what you want, because thebaker doesn’t bake so much bread every day. In the afternoon the owner makes a daily dish and you can order pizza and hamburgers on a gluten free roll. That was one more amazing thing in Rome, I didn't see any McDonald's but 100's of small bars and restaurants where you can eat at any time and for every budget.

I saw some gluten-free items in pharmacies and supermarkets or organic stores, there is not a lot to find and the prices are very high, compared to the Dutch stores.

 I recommend to take some crackers with you and I always take some gluten free granola or cruesli with me, so you can buy a can of yoghurt and a banana and start your day with a fruity summery breakfast.

After coming back we had a lot of things to do and to celebrate my sons graduation. I did a lot of cooking, of course, but was not in the mood for blogging or sitting behind my computer.

I want to make it up to you by giving some summer inspiration.

I made these lovely filled small sweet pepperoni

Just put them on an oven tray and bake them for 10 minutes in a 180 ˚C oven. Let them cool, make a slice in the middle and fill them with some feta cheese, drizzle with good olive oil and some pepper. Enjoy as a snack or side dish.

Cook a portion of polenta and at the end of the cooking process add some chopped dried tomatoes with a tablespoon of fried oregano, stir it in well. Pour the polenta on a wet plate and let it cool completely with a sheet of cling film on top. Cut the polenta in squares or slices and bake them in olive oil, till golden, sprinkle with some Parmesan.

Or serve with this gorgeous salsa verde:

20g basil leaves

20g flat parsley leaves

20g mint leaves

1 tbsp salted capers, rinsed and drained

1 anchovy filet

2 tsp good vinegar

2 tsp Dyon mustard

125ml extra vergine olive oil

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

You can make the salsa in a kitchen machine but the fun is making it with your knife and slice all ingredients as fine as you can on your cutting board. Then put them in a bowl and season with vinegar, mustard, oil and salt and pepper.

I filled and baked bell peppers

click for recipe

I made apricot marmalade from a kilo of fresh and juicy apricots from the market.

Wash them, de-pit them, slice in 6 and cook slowly with 50-100 g of cane sugar and a splash of water, till soft, about 20 minutes. Cool and store in a glass jar for about 1 week.

Did you know you can crack the pits and eat the core!

Or chop them fine and stir in the marmalade.

Great on a piece of flat bread.

I boiled fresh beets, peeled them and sliced them thick. Then baked them in olive oil with 2 sliced cloves of garlic and serve them with some chopped flat parsley.