Cauliflower Tabbouleh

Morning!

So I’ve been trying to eat a bit more grain free lately – due to tummy issues!  So I’ve done a ton of research and checked out tons and tons of recipes and cauliflower is basically a grain and dairy free person’s perfect food!    It really meld into anything you want it to be from super creamy alfredo type sauce, to a low carb stand in for mashed potatoes to chicken wings to a grain in salads!    Over the past few months we’ve eaten a lot of cauliflower recipes (and enjoyed them too!)

The other day I wanted a yummy salad but was bored of plain old greens.   I used to make a super yummy bulgur wheat tabbouleh & was totally craving that recipe so I got to thinking and this was created!  You can serve it with any protein you like – I did some leftover grilled salmon but chicken, tofu, tempeh would all be great as well!  Get that protein in to keep your belly full!

This salad is FRESH, bright and crisp and would be an awesome addition to a potatoes salad heavy BBQ!   The longer you let the flavours marinate the better – so make ahead of time if you can!

 

Cauliflower Tabbouleh

1 head cauliflower – chopped into small pieces – ideally rice sized but totally up to you!

1 bunch fresh parsley – washed, de-stemmed and chopped

1 handful of cherry tomatoes- cut in half

1/4 purple onion – diced

1-2 TBSP sunflower seeds or pepitas (pumpkin seeds) ~ for crunch!

Dressing

Juice of 1 lemon

2 TBSP olive oil

No-salt added seasoning (I used Epicure sundried tomato) (optional)

Dash of stevia or 1/4-1/2 tsp honey, agave or maple syrup (optional)

Salt & pepper to taste

 

Toss chopped cauliflower, chopped parsley, tomatoes, onion & sunflower seeds into a bowl! 

Mix dressing together (my favourite way to mix dressings  is in a mason jar and shake shake shaken) pour dressing over salad and mix together!   Let the salad sit for a bit to let the flavours marinate together – overnight is best but work with what time you have!

NOTES

If you don’t like cauliflower you could easily sub bulgur wheat, quinoa or any grain in this recipe!

Cucumber is a great addition to this salad!

A few pieces of mint can be added for some extra freshness!

Enjoy and please let me know if you give it a try!

xo Jessica

Sundried Tomato Dairy Free Pesto?

Hiya!

What’s shaken folks?

How about a little pesto recipe that is easy, flavourful and dairy free?

I know you want it?

 

Sundried Tomato Pesto (Dairy Free)

1/4 cup pumpkin seeds (pepitas)

1/4 cup raw or toasted almonds

1/2 (or more) packed basil

1/2 cup chicken broth (or veggie)

2 TBSP oil – I used grape seed

1/4 cup sundried tomato in oil – rinsed of excess oil

1 TBSP nutritional yeast (optional)

1 clove of garlic (or more if you are a garlic lover)

Process all ingredients in a food processor! – You will probably have to scrape down the sidesa few times to get everything processed!   Yum that’s it!!  Add more liquid as required – this made a fairly thick pesto!

 

Now what to do with it you ask?

• I roasted a bunch of my favourite veggies, and tossed it with them and some pasta and topped with chicken.
• As a base for pizza instead of tomatoes sauce
• Spread for sandwiches
• Dip for crackers/veggies
• Spread on burgers
• Spread on chicken/fish/tofu
• Thinned out and used as a salad dressing
• Coating for kale chips (mmmmmm must try this!)
• Inside a lettuce or rice wrap

Now that summer is here, I’m hoping to do more cooking and start getting recipes out to you guys! I’ve had TONS of emails (thank you) encouraging me to get back into blogging, I’m so sorry for my absence – I lost my blogging mojo a bit – but hopefully I’ll be back soon!

 

Any recipe requests out there?  Also, any great ideas for Arugula?  I was gifted a big bag of garden fresh stuff, but haven’t used it much!?   Thank you!! 

 

Hope you guys  are all doing well!  My posts on facebook haven’t been reaching everyone – so if you’d like to make sure you receive all my posts – please sign up through  email!!   The link is at the very top of my page on the right hand side!! Thank you bunches for your support!

Much love,

Jessica

Raw Breaky…

Thank you SO much for all your suggestions regarding lunch – I highly recommend you go back and check out the suggestions!

One of my favourite suggestions was to check out City Life Eats.  I have found SO much inspiration on Valerie’s blog.  I’m trying to make my way through the whole thing!

Her blog has inspired me to have some more raw foods in my life!!  This morning I made a raw breaky!

Swiss Chard wraps

3x chard wraps

slices of red pepper

cucumber

Nut cheese (see below)

Raw Nori

Wrap it all up and nom nom nom

I used more nori than this, but it didn’t look as pretty for the picture!

Nut Cheese

1/2 cup cashews (soaked at least an hour – I did overnight)

1/2 cup almonds

2 tsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp nutritional yeast

1 TBSP sundried tomatoes

Blend everything in food processor until desired consistency

Done!!  It made enough for about 10 wraps!! (yay left overs!!)

Love it!! I’ll see what kind of staying power it has though!! It would be good in lunches too, as the wraps wouldn't’ get soggy.

 

More Raw Goodness!

Dawn from Raw Elements.ca sent me some samples of Sun Warrior Powder!  I was SO excited as I love adding stuff to my smoothies, but I’ve been burned a few times ordering a huge jar and not liking it!

So far I have tried the vanilla and the chocolate and I have to say I REALLY like this product!!  And even better – no tummy problems!!

The vanilla I put in a smoothie with strawberries, banana and water

The taste was subtle, but nice… usually rice powder is gritty, but this stuff wasn’t at all..

I tried the chocolate in a a mango smoothie with Chia seeds

Not pretty, but what can you do?! ha

I really liked the chocolate too, but I think I would order the vanilla because it’s more plain and you can always add cacao powder if you are craving chocolate!

Overall, I really like Sun Warrior!  I still have some left and I think I might make Amazeballs!

Thank you Dawn!!

Also, make sure to check out City Life Eats for a TON of inspiration!!

Question of the day.

What’s your FAVORITE breakfast???