It's Summer! And what best way to celebrate the hot and sunny days than making food from fresh and local produce. Cauliflower is not just meant for dishes like "Aloo Gobi" (which I love by the way) but can also be eaten raw!
Cauliflower Couscous - what is it anyway? It's raw cauliflower processed into "couscous-like" size by using a food processor, usually served as a salad or as a component of a salad. It may not be too appealing to some but with the right ingredients, it actually tastes rad. Here's one of my favourite recipes.
Cauliflower and Hemp Couscous 0n Romaine Boats
Couscous:
1 small cauliflower, any variety (I used an orange one),
chopped (approx. 3 cups or 383 g.)
1/2 c. hemp hearts
1/3 c. parsley, roughly chopped
1/3 c. basil, cut into chiffonade
1/4 c. chives, roughly chopped
2 Tbsp. pine nuts ( or increase hemp hearts)
3 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. nutritional yeast (optional, gives it a "cheesy taste")
Salt and pepper to taste
In a food processor, place the cauliflower and all the other ingredients except the hemp hearts. Pulse until the mixture turns into grain-like or couscous-like size (see above photo). Add the hemp hearts and pulse briefly. Adjust the taste. Leave for 30 minutes to marinate. It even tastes better the next day.
Romaine Boats:
A few romaine hearts (Boston bibb or butter lettuce leaves can also be used)
1 - 1 1/2 avocados, seeded, peeled and cut into cubes
1/2 c. cherry tomatoes, cut into halves or pieces
A few microgreens
Edible flowers if available
quick red onion pickles (or any pickles of choice)
Red Onion Pickles:
medium red onion, thinly sliced
½ cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup warm water
2 tsp. maple syrup
1½ teaspoons Himalayan salt
A few peppercorns and coriander seeds
In a small bowl, combine the water, vinegar, maple syrup, salt and spices and stir to dissolve the salt and sweetener. Place the onions in a clean mason jar and pour the liquid over. Let it marinate for one hour to use in this recipe but overnight is better.
Sauce: (optional but tastes great)
Tahini sauce, see the recipe here
To Assemble:
Spread the couscous on the romaine leaves. If using the sauce, add a few dollops on over the couscous then add the rest of the toppings. It can also be served with greens on a salad. Enjoy!
Basil, one of my fav herbs
Annabelle hydrangea from our backyard
In addition to fresh produce, there's tons of lovely flowers around us these days. I love my walks as I get to visit a mini-forest in our neighbourhood which has various wild varieties of flowers. I hope Summer won't fly too fast!
AN UPDATE ON MY RAW CUISINE TRAINING:
I received my Certification in Advanced Raw Cuisine from the Matthew Kenney Culinary in April. With this comes 270 hours of training including a Plant-based Desserts course.
In May, I also had the opportunity to go to England and train further in Raw Cuisine with Deborah Durrant. The program was called "Taste." It was an intensive one week course held in the beautiful city of Bath. Deb is a teacher that everyone would want to have: passionate, inspirational and kind hearted. Her courses in Raw Cuisine are not just about teaching recipes but more so on practical techniques and real life application. You can check her website here.
While in London, I also met Amy Levin, the awesome raw chocolate guru. I spent an afternoon with her learning about raw chocolate making.
I have such great memories in Bath, Kent and London meeting new friends, reconnecting with relatives and childhood friends and most of all learning new things. Below are some of the photos. For more, please visit my Instagram page here.
Carrot Pate. English Veggies. Celery and Fennel Gastrique. Balsamic Reduction. One of my final projects in Bath, England. Photo courtesy of Dawn Langley.
Lavender & Citrus Ice Cream. English Strawberries. Berry Coulis. Hazelnut & Ginger Crumb. Photo by Dawn Langley.
And here are some photos that I took as a Canadian tourist.
Bath, such a beautiful and romantic place.
I hope you're enjoying your Summer! Recently, I threw a "Mini-Raw Cafe" at home for some of my friends. We all had a blast and enjoyed raw snacks and sweets. I will be sharing that on my next post. Hope to touch base soon!
Warmly,
Lina