Kale and Cauliflower Tabbouleh

If you're looking for a healthy but exciting and easy to put together salad, private chef Nicola Richman has the answer with her kale and cauliflower tabbouleh:

Every year, January brings a healthy start to reverse the effects of an inevitably overindulgent Christmas. We stock our fridges and cupboards with plenty of fruit and vegetables to replace the chocolate, turkey and mince pies that were there the weeks before.

Salads are perfect for this - packed full of fresh vegetables; you just can't help feeling healthy eating them. There is however nothing worse than one of those particularly leafy salads which leaves you hungry at the end, feeling like you haven't eaten a thing. Nobody wants or needs that. So this is a perfect alternative. I have been living off cauliflower rice as of late and this is one of my favourite ways of serving it. This salad is hearty, full of flavour and definitely satisfying as well as being nutrient packed and completely good for you.

Ingredients:

Quarter of a large cauliflower

Handful of kale leaves

Juice of half a lemon

Handful of parsley, chopped

2 inch piece of cucumber, chopped into small cubes

Half a red onion, diced

2 sundried tomatoes, sliced

Pomegranate seeds

Dried rose petals (optional)

Method:

Chop your cauliflower into large pieces and then blitz in a food processor until it resembles rice, or in this case bulgar. Remove from the bowl and do the same to the kale leaves.

The key to cauliflower rice, in my eyes, is seasoning. Without a good bit of salt, this is really bland and not particularly appetising. Sprinkle over a good bit of salt, lemon and pepper and I could happily munch away at a bowl of cauliflower rice all by itself.

The rest is easy. Mix together with the remaining ingredients and top with a good scatter of the pomegranate and rose petals.

Finally, tear up some goat's cheese, shred in some leftover roast lamb or do as I did and mix a roasted chicken breast with half a teaspoon of harissa to pile on top.

Grab a fork and dig in to this delicious salad. It is the perfect candidate for a healthy January.

Nicola Richman is a freelance private chef with a passion for writing and food styling. She has have written for a number of national publications and worked as the primary food stylist for a number of campaigns for Taste of London and Gizzi Erskine, to name but a few. She has also worked alongside notable food stylists on shoots for Waitrose, M&S, Tesco and many others.

To discover more of of her delicious recipes, visit her blog here.

Purchase our Polished Knot cutlery, featured in her photography, here.