I love trying new recipes and ways with food, especially when they combine healthy eating with builder sized portions, easily made in a kitchenless house. A few of the ‘clean food’ bloggers have been waxing lyrical about cauliflower rice & couscous for a while but I hadn’t tried it. I’m now hooked!
Tasty, fresh and easily flavoured with whatever takes your fancy, this is a great way to get full without heavy carbs. A good idea for a hearty lunch before bending back over cleaning a subfloor or clambering up ladders onto a roof, eh self-builders?
INDIAN SPICED CAULIFLOWER COUSCOUS WITH LEMON MINTED HAKE (Serves 2)
- Half a large cauli, or one small one
- 1 tablespoon of ground nut oil, or olive oil will do
- 1 teaspoon of cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon of coriander
- 1 teaspoon of turmeric (superbuilders superfood time!)
- Grated zest of half a lemon
- Juice of half a lemon
- Plenty of seasoning – freshly ground sea salt and black pepper
- Veg additions of your choice. I nabbed a reduced pack of greens in Waitrose which included courgette & cabbage, but you could add anything really: seeds & nuts like cashews, pumpkin seeds or almonds or dried fruit like cranberries or apricots. As it’s a raw mix, maybe avoid things which need to be cooked like leek or fennel.
- Optional – chopped parsley or chopped cashew nuts to serve
Simply cut the cauli into florets, discarding the leaves and any hard stalk.
Whizz up into a couscous like texture in a food processor. I have a small Kenwood Mini which is easy to wash in our teeny upstairs sink so you don’t need a big hearty processor for this step. Took me six whizzes to do half a cauli.
Mix up the oil, spices, lemon zest and juice in a small dish. Add to the couscous, mixing well. It’ll turn slightly yellow from the turmeric. Season well. When I’ve got my kitchen back, Im looking forward to dry frying some fresh indian spices for an extra special flavouring.
Pressed a few big spoonfuls of the couscous mix into a small plastic salad dish and then turn it out on the plate so it looks fancy. If you’ve had a long day, just spoon it straight onto the plate 😉
For the fish accompaniment, I marinated two chunky hake fillets in lemon juice whilst I made the couscous, then baked them with a good splash of olive oil for 15 minutes at 180*. I added some asparagus to cook with the fish for the last five minutes (only bought out of season as it was reduced thus justifiable to prevent food waste!) adding some minty butter on the top of the fish at the same time. Whatever you decide to serve with your cauli couscous there’s no juggling with things in and out of the oven or relying on microwaved food because it’s served raw – perfect!
This is another great recipe for the other half of my cauli later this week: HERE
NB For new readers: I live in a kitchenless, hot water-less, hobless house mid-selfbuild & renovations, hence these simple / effective / hearty recipes and food advice for others in the same boat. This isn’t an expert blog for expert foodies with all the gadgets either, so don’t get all prissy if I use cheating additions and never boil / pan fry anything… because I can’t! x
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