The original Tabbouleh salad is originally from the mountains of Lebanon and Syria. Nowadays, Tabbouleh is one of the most popular salads in the Middle East. The original version is mainly made of finely chopped vegetables, fresh parsley, garlic, and uncooked and soaked bulgur wheat tossed with lime juice and olive oil.

Even though I adore the original version, I love making a lighter version of the salad with lower carbs and using only fresh raw vegetables. So in this recipe, I replaced bulgur with raw cauliflower, chopped it into tiny pieces, and turned it into “cauliflower rice”.

Cruciferous vegetables like cauliflower are rich in vitamins and minerals, but some nutrients decrease with longer cooking times. One of these nutrients is sulforaphane, which boosts our liver’s detoxifying enzymes.

The sulforaphane formation requires mixing a precursor compound with an enzyme called myrosinase, which is inactivated by cooking. So consuming cauliflower in a raw form, you’d get the most potent sulforaphane benefits.

This doesn’t mean that you need to eat all cruciferous vegetables raw from now on. Cooking food improves digestion and increases the absorption of many nutrients. Try including both raw and cooked vegetables in your diet for optimal nutrition

The easiest way to make “cauliflower rice” is by using a food processor. However, you’d have to process cauliflower many times until the texture resembles the rice. I didn’t have a food processor, so I used a knife to chop cauliflower finely. Initially, it was a bit challenging, but I was happy with the result.

Other ingredients used in this recipe are parsley, red bell pepper, tomato, cucumber, red onion, garlic, walnuts and cranberries – what a variety of delicious ingredients!

The diversity of plants in the diet is essential to support healthy and diverse gut flora and bacteria populations. Such salad with various fresh vegetables, herbs and spices can help you increase the number of plants you consume, benefiting your skin and overall health.