I know…. an all vegetable salad… there’s not even cheese…. I’m sorry I’m sorry.  But it’s delicious.  I ate it within a 12 hour period.  Which means I ate all of the below in 12 hours (whoa).  That’s a whole head of cauliflower gone.

I’ve pretty much decided real couscous is borderline pointless.  It can always be replaced with something infinity better for you like quinoa or farro.  Couscous is just straight up pasta and if I’m going to eat pasta I want to eat it like I mean it as seen here and here.  So this is a nice trick.  With the cauliflower ground up so small and all the other ingredients you don’t even taste the cauliflower.  You just taste deliciousness.  I promise.  I wouldn’t trick you when it comes to this kind of a vegetable commitment.  Try it.

Inspired by TheCozyKitchen

You’ll need:

For the Salad

1 head of cauliflower, florets removed

2 bell peppers (I did a yellow and a red), diced

1 can of cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

1 tablespoon fresh chopped flat-leaf parsley

2 tablespoons fresh chopped mint leaves

0.25 cup salted and roasted sunflower seeds

For the Dressing

3 cloves garlic, minced

Zest of 1 lemon

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley

1 tablespoon mint leaves

2 teaspoons honey

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon salt

0.25 teaspoon ground cumin

0.25 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2- 2/3 cup olive oil

 
Add half the cauliflower to the bowl of a food process and process until the cauliflower resembles couscous.  Turn that into a bowl and repeat with the remaining cauliflower.

To the cauliflower add the diced pepper, beans, parsley and mint.  Toss to combine.

In a separate bowl whisk together all the ingredients for the dressing except for the olive oil.  Add the olive oil, tasting as you go, until you get it how you want it.  The original recipe called for 2/3 cup olive oil but I only used ½ cup.

Toss half of the dressing with the vegetables and add more dressing until the taste is where you want it.  I wish I had added slightly less dressing than I did.  You don’t want the cauliflower to be soggy.  Garnish with sunflower seeds.