Cauliflower-Broccoli Tabbouleh, Roasted Fennel & Double Tomato Dressing

Cauliflower-Broccoli Tabbouleh is my take on a refreshing Lebanese salad traditionally made with bulgur wheat, lots of parsley, mint, lemon, olive oil and tomatoes.

To increase the amount of vegetables in the dish, I substitute cauliflower and broccoli for the bulgur and include tasty roasted fennel in the mix. In a nod to the Syrian version of tabbouleh, I’ve created a rich dressing with both fresh and sun-dried tomatoes.

CLASSIC TABBOULEH

Whether you call it tabbouleh, tabbouli, tabouli or taboulah, there’s no denying that this classic Lebanese salad has become one of those Middle Eastern dishes, alongside falafel, tahini sauce, hummus and tagine, that have become incredibly familiar, and well-loved, in Britain.

However, the version eaten in the UK is usually mainly bulgur wheat with a few herbs thrown in, whereas in the original the stars of the show are the herbs with the bulgur almost an afterthought.

For all things Middle Eastern, I turn to one of my favourite food writers, Claudia Roden. Born in Egypt of Syrian Jewish heritage, Roden almost single-handedly introduced 1960s Britain to the cuisine of this region in her Book of Middle Eastern Food. I own the revised 1980s version, A New Book of Middle Eastern Food, in which Claudia describes tabbouleh as ‘Parsley and Mint Salad with Burghul (Cracked Wheat)’ and says it’s ‘all green herbs with buff-coloured wheat speckle’.

And when Claudia says it’s ‘all green herbs’ that’s not just hyperbole. In the 1980s version, she uses 300-400 grams of herbs, 250 grams of spring onions and just 60-120 grams of bulgur. Clearly, Britain is doing tabbouleh all wrong.

CAULIFLOWER-BROCCOLI TABBOULEH

Having said that, I doubt traditionalists would be overly impressed with my version either. That’s because, while I sometimes include a little bulgur in my tabbouleh, I’ve taken to using mainly cauliflower and broccoli as the basis of the salad.

Although bulgur is one of my favourite grains (and which I’ve recently discovered is even better toasted in a dry pan before soaking) I really make an effort to include heaps of vegetables in my diet and find that substituting them for grains in lots of meals makes that much easier.

Many of us are familiar with cauliflower ‘rice’ where this nutrition-packed vegetable is grated or processed into fine grain-like pieces. As I don’t eat much rice, I prefer to think of it as cauliflower couscous or bulgur and am more likely to incorporate it into a salad or in a bowl of different foods, each having equal importance on the plate, rather than as a side dish to curries, chilli and the like.

Nowadays, I almost always include broccoli along with the cauliflower. Besides the flavour, I love the green speckles it gives to the ‘rice’/’couscous’/’bulgur’. Of course getting lots of variety on a plate is also good from a nutritional point of view and makes the plate more interesting too.

RAW, BAKE OR PING?

For Cauliflower-Broccoli Tabbouleh you can just grate your cauliflower and broccoli, but I chop them into biggish chunks and blitz in the food processor. Although they’re fine to eat raw in salad, I prefer to cook my cauli-broccoli a little first. This not only takes the raw edge off, but I find it soaks up dressings much better too.

To cook, either microwave for 3 minutes, stirring half way through, or spread on a shallow baking sheet and put in a hottish oven for 10-15 minutes, again stirring half way through. My preference is the baking method as the light charring adds to the flavour and dries it a little. But if I want to speed things up then I just ping in the microwave.

While your cauli-broccoli is cooking, I suggest you mix up a batch of my Double Tomato Dressing.

DOUBLE TOMATO DRESSING

As we’ve seen, traditional tabbouleh includes chopped tomatoes and for my Cauliflower-Broccoli Tabbouleh my idea was to replace these with a tomato dressing. The interesting thing is, while I was researching tabbouleh for this post, I found that the Syrian version of tabbouleh includes tomato paste in the dressing. It’s called bazargan and is a specialty of Syrian Jews. As my go-to guide for all things Middle Eastern, Claudia Roden, is of Syrian Jewish descent I found this a particularly pleasing synchronicity.

While I often use fresh, raw tomatoes whizzed up in dressings, I wanted a really intense tomato flavour to go with my tabbouleh so used a mix of fresh and sun-dried tomatoes. As in many tomato based dressings and sauces, I’ve added a large pinch of sugar as it balances the acidity. If I hadn’t been out of pomegranate molasses (shame on me) I would’ve added a couple of teaspoons of that instead as it gives a complexity of flavour as well as sweetness and is fitting for a Middle Eastern dish. You could also use honey.

Olive oil, lemon, parsley and mint are in traditional tabbouleh and they’re all in my Double Tomato Dressing too. Next to mint, coriander is my favourite herb so I’ve included some of that, as well as garlic to give the dressing a bit of a kick.

All you do is whizz the dressing ingredients together – I use a large jug and a stick blender. I put the herbs in last, after everything else is almost blended, as I like to see flecks of green in the red-orange dressing rather than have them completely blitzed.

When the dressing is to your liking, take a big bowl and combine the dressing (you might not need all of it) with your prepared cauli-broccoli. If the cauli-broccoli is still warm then that’s good as it will absorb more dressing. I then set the tabbouleh aside while I roast the fennel.

ROASTED FENNEL

The slightly aniseed flavour of fennel, the vegetable and the seeds, is one I love. While fennel is good raw in salads, I think it’s even better when it’s been slightly caramelized in the oven.  I’m mad about roasted vegetables of all kinds and often include fennel in the mix. For my Cauliflower-Broccoli Tabbouleh I took a bulb, sliced it from top to bottom, sprinkled it with fennel seeds, salt, pepper and olive oil and roasted it until nicely charred but still with a little bite.

I cut the roasted fennel into long strips before adding it to the tabbouleh along with its cooking juices to add a lovely depth of flavour.

FINAL TOUCHES

For crunch, and to balance the sweeter elements in the tabbouleh, I add a small, finely chopped red onion. All that’s left to do then is check the seasoning and add more olive oil, dressing or herbs if you think it needs it.

You can eat the Cauliflower-Broccoli Tabbouleh straight away, but I think its much better if you can leave it in the fridge for a few hours so that the dressing and other flavours soak into the cauli-broccoli. If you have time, bring it back to room temperature before eating.

SERVING CAULIFLOWER-BROCCOLI TABBOULEH

You can serve my Cauliflower-Broccoli Tabbouleh with Roasted Fennel & Double Tomato Dressing as a side dish with meat, fish or vegetable kebabs or as part of a buffet or mezze type spread. But I like it best as the centre of a plant-based, light meal with the addition of some almonds fried in olive oil along with olives, pickles and more vegetable salads.

If you want to make a more traditional tabbouleh and use bulgur wheat instead of cauliflower and broccoli, then the dressing and roasted fennel will work just as well, or try mixing half bulgur wheat and half cauli-broccoli.

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Cauliflower-Broccoli Tabbouleh with Roasted Fennel & Double Tomato Dressing

A twist on a classic Lebanese salad, this recipe replaces soaked bulgur wheat with grains of cauliflower & broccoli. Eat as a side dish to kebabs, as part of a mezze or enjoy as a plant-based main course with the addition of nuts, salad and pickles.

Course Main Course, Side Dish, Salad

Cuisine Middle Eastern, Vegetarian, Vegan

Keyword tabbouleh

Servings 2 servings

Ingredients

• 250 g cauliflower chopped into large chunks, leaves removed
• 250 g broccoli chopped into large chunks
• 1 batch Double Tomato Dressing (see recipe below)
• 1 bulb fennel trimmed
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• salt & pepper to taste
• 0.5 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium red onion finely chopped
• 50 g almonds toasted or fried in butter
• salads & pickles to serve optional

Instructions

1. Pre-heat your oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6
   

2. Put the cauliflower chunks into a food processor and blitz until broken up. Add the broccoli and blitz again until both are in small grains.
   

3. Roast or microwave the cauli-broccoli (skip this step to eat raw)
   

   To roast:

   Spread the cauli-broccoli on a non-stick baking tray and place in the oven. Bake for 10-15 min, turning half way through, so that the grains are slightly browned and softened a little. [Leave the oven on for roasting the fennel or roast the fennel at the same time - see below]
   

   To microwave:

   Transfer the cauli broccoli to a microwaveable container and cook on high for 3 minutes, stirring half way through.
   

4. Transfer the cooked cauli-broccoli to a large bowl and stir in the Double Tomato Dressing (recipe below). Set aside while you prepare the roasted fennel.
   

5. Cut the fennel into slices, top to bottom, and place on a baking tray. Sprinkle with the fennel seeds, salt and pepper, and drizzle with the olive oil. Mix together with your hands and place in the oven.
   

6. Roast the fennel until slightly charred (10-15 min), turning half way through.
   

7. When cool enough to handle, cut the roasted fennel into long strips and stir into the cauli-broccoli tabbouleh along with the finely chopped red onion.
   

8. Taste the tabbouleh and add more seasoning, dressing or herbs if needed. Flavour will improve if left in the fridge for an hour or more, but bring back to room temperature to eat it if you have time.
   

9. Serve with the almonds sprinkled over the top, alongside salads and pickles if liked.
   

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Double Tomato Dressing

I created this rich dressing to serve with cauliflower-broccoli tabbouleh, but it goes well with all roasted vegetables and salads too.

Course Salad, dressing

Cuisine Vegetarian, Vegan

Servings 2 servings

Ingredients

• 1-2 cloves garlic
• 8 cherry tomatoes
• 4 sundried tomatoes
• 1 tsp sugar (or honey or pomegranate molasses)
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 0.5 lemon, juice only
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 handful coriander leaf
• 1 handful flat leaf parsley
• 1 handful mint leaves

Instructions

1. Put all the ingredients, except the coriander, parsley and mint, in a blender (or a large jug if using a stick blender).
   

2. Blend until you have a sauce that is almost smooth. Taste and if necessary add more seasoning, sugar, lemon, or balsamic until it's to your liking. If it's a little thick add more olive oil or a splash of water.
   

3. Add the coriander, parsley, and mint and whizz briefly to combine without completely blending them into the sauce.
   

4. Transfer to a covered container in the fridge until ready to use. Will keep 2-3 days.