Not my Grandma's Tabouli...

Steve often says in company that Middle Eastern, Indian, and Thai food are comfort foods to him. He'll quip..."growing up on the streets of...fill in far off place...I would eat ...fill in ethnic dish we're eating...". I always laugh, only because I know he really could have grown up in any one of these far off places he's talking about.

I also laugh when we're having Middle Eastern food because his favorite part of that meal is always tabbouleh...and I actually DID grow up eating tabbouleh...or tabouli.

I don't know when it made it into our family holiday meals, but every single holiday there are always a couple of bowls of the wheat salad to go with all the rest of the regulars, made by my Grandma.

She's passed the recipe on in our family cookbook that was a gift a few Christmases ago. I've made it plenty times since moving away...because I am not home for most of my family holidays. And it's a regular fixture at our house, not just a holiday salad.

But, in the past month, Steve has learned he has a wheat intolerance. He doesn't have celiac disease, but he notices a drastic difference in his allergies when he doesn't eat wheat. So, he's tried to cut it out of his diet. I asked him the other day what he would do about his favorite tabouli...and he just said...don't remind me. :(

So, I got online to search for a substitute for the bulgur wheat, and found this recipe...and made it last night.
Gluten Free Tabouli

I made it exactly like Grandma's recipe, instead of using the bulgur wheat, I used a secret ingredient.


If you click over on the link you will see the secret ingredient is very small pieces of raw cauliflower! I don't have a food processor, so I used a grater and just grated a head of cauliflower.

We really could not tell the difference. We decided the bulgur wheat just give it a chewy bite. I think I'll also try it with cooked brown rice to see if it is more along the lines of the bulgur wheat.

And an added bonus, it took maybe 10 minutes to put together, instead of overnight like the tabouli I grew up with. And it didn't matter if it was made with cauliflower or wheat...I can't help but think of my Grandma, and helping her make tabouli the night before Thanksgiving, or the night before Christmas Eve, every time I have it.