While cauliflower pizza might not resemble actual pizza dough, cauliflower couscous (in my opinion) really does mimic the texture of actual couscous remarkably well. If you were waiting for a vegan recipe with a few less carbs – here it is. In fact, this might be just a few chickpeas and a couple of currants away from paleo. (Although I’m not an expert on paleo rules so don’t quote me on that).
I went a little nuts with the nuts and spices. The cauliflower has such a subtle flavor so it’s really a blank canvas. Since we’re in the middle of winter, I figured I’d make use of a bunch of a variety dried spices – also, I had just cleaned out my pantry. Apparently, I had been hoarding hazelnuts.
I finished this off with a simple coconut & turmeric sauce that was inspired by a recipe my friend Angie made for me once (hi Angie!). This would make for a nice light dinner on it’s own, it was also really good with a few seared scallops on top.
spiced cauliflower “couscous”
- about 3 (loose) cups of cauliflower florets, dried completely
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- ¼ cup toasted hazelnuts, chopped
- 2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
- ½ teaspoon dried orange peel
- ½ teaspoon dried cilantro leaves
- ½ teaspoon red chile flakes
- 2 tablespoons currants
- 1 cup chickpeas, (optional: roast them in a bit of oil & salt)
- chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
- ½ cup coconut milk (full fat is ideal, light would do)
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- pinch of cinnamon
- salt
- Ahead of time: toast your hazelnuts and pine nuts and roast your chickpeas.
- Make your sauce by stirring together the coconut milk, turmeric, curry powder, a pinch of cinnamon and a pinch of salt.
- Pulse cauliflower in a food processor until it’s “riced” (ie, the size of couscous). Careful not to overmix, you don’t want to puree the cauliflower at all.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the cauliflower “couscous” and a few good pinches of salt. Let it gently toast for a minute or so and stir. you should see a few of the bits turning golden brown. (Careful not to overcook you want the pieces tender and not mushy). Toss again and add the nuts and spices and chickpeas. Cook until the spices become fragrant (about 30 seconds more) and remove from heat.
- Toss cauliflower mix with half the sauce, (not too much so it stays fluffy), and top with fresh cilantro Taste and adjust seasonings and serve it with the rest of the sauce on the side.
I love this recipe!! You are right, I made a cauliflower crist “pizza” a while back and it did lack the resemblance to a “real pizza”, definitely not as crispy. But this idea with the couscous is really great!! I love it and have to give it a try soon! I love to replace the “traditional” ingredients in recipe with a healthier one. The other day I made a quinoa tabouleh…
Thanks for sharing, I am so in love with your blog! It’s one of the most beautiful out there!!! Sylvia
Thanks Sylvia!! I think pizza is just not the right name… it’s tasty but good dough is especially hard to “fake.” I was pleasantly surprised how couscous-like the cauliflower was 🙂
I can’t wait to make this! I need a food processor!
I have just a small one – it doesn’t take up a lot of space so I find I use it *all* the time.
Ooh! I love couscous, and I love subbing veggies for pasta =) Beautiful photos!
thank you! xo
Cauliflower is an incredibly great vegetable. It’s so versatile too. This is a great recipe to try.
WOW!!! When I took a first glance at the picture, I thought “OK, this will be a nice couscous recipe I should try.” But then I clicked and read this post carefully, and I was overjoyed. You are GENIUS!!!! This way, no one in my family knows it’s cauliflower, and they will get all the benefit this veggie has to offer.
This is brilliant. Thank you SO MUCH for sharing 🙂
Ha, well ingredients listed in quotation marks will always be not what they seem :). I hope your family likes it!
Such an original idea! It seems like Cauliflower is becoming a new key ingredient in the blog world these days and this one is so fresh and unique. I’ve never made couscous so this would be a perfect new side for dinners. Love the toasted hazelnuts too!
it’s so versatile! I didn’t like (well, thought I didn’t like) cauliflower for a long time until I really realized all that can be done with it 🙂
I love your creative use of cauliflower here. Looks delicious with all those spices too!
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I am all for the spices and nuts! Love this recipe!
Mmm what a great recipe. I will be making this on the weekend. Yum
Sounds delish. I have also made cauliflower fried rice…another great side dish wether you’re watching carbs or not.
This looks amazing!
All of my favourite ingredients! Lovely meal
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LOVE cauliflower, what a great idea! Thank you for sharing!!
Looks superb! I love cous cous salads but am trying to eat mostly gluten free at the moment so this looks like a must-try. Thank you for the inspiration.
I used to eat a ton of cous cous, but recently I’ve been eating gluten free. Using cauliflower as cous cous is such a great idea and I love that it is such a blank canvas so you can really add any flavors you want to it! Thanks!
I laughed out loud when I saw the title of this post. We are currently making cauliflower couscous as I type this!!! Love it!!! Your version sounds fabulous!
can’t wait to see how you make it!
oh my goodness, this is ingenious! What a great way to incorporate more veggies. I do love cauliflower, but can’t deal with couscous (in grad school thats all I ate). Will have to try this out!
I ate a lot of couscous in college too 🙂
well, I have not been successful with the cauliflower crust yet..couscous sounds amazing..pinned this recipe!
ha, it’s a tricky one – this should be a lot easier 🙂
This sounds delicious! We’ve been eating lots more cauli recently, since discovering how great it is roasted. Thanks for the recipe idea -Will definitely give this a try.
It’s so great roasted isn’t it? Let me know if you give this one a try!