Gluten Free Rosie Cooked Up A Recipe For Meat Free Monday

With 'Meat Free Monday' today, this is the perfect, delicious, plant-based lunch to set you off for a healthy week. Couscous is made from refined wheat, so it is not actually gluten-free. This recipe however uses cauliflower, a far more nutritious alternative which when when shredded, and steamed, amazingly really does resemble regular couscous. Cauliflower has quite a mild taste so acts as the perfect vehicle for fresh herbs and ground spices. I've tried this recipe out on meat-eating men which went down surprisingly well so I think I'm on to a winner!

The recipe is for one person, but you can multiply it by x four and use a whole cauliflower head giving you leftovers for the rest of the week. I like to make this recipe the night before to take into work the next day, however if you have a microwave in your office, you can make the "couscous" part of the recipe in minutes and add your own vegetables.

Equipment

Food processor or hand grater

Microwave (for steaming the "couscous")

Microwavable bowl

Clingfilm

**Ingredients **

*Cauliflower "couscous"

1/4 head of a cauliflower

x 1 tsp ground coriander

x 1 tsp dried chillies

x 1 tsp ground cumin

x 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

x 1 tsp salt

x 1 handful of fresh mint coriander

x 1 handful of fresh mint

x 1 handful of pomegranate seeds

x 1 handful of blanched almonds

Roasted Aubergines

1/2 an aubergine, halved and sliced

Salt and pepper

1/2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1 x clove of garlic, crushed

***Dressing ***

1 tbs olive oil

1 tbs tahini

3 tbs natural yoghurt

1 tsp honey

1/2 lemon, juiced

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Preheat your oven to 200 °C.

Place the sliced aubergines on a baking tray with the crushed garlic, olive oil and a sprinkle of freshly ground salt and pepper. Roast the aubergines in your oven for about 30 minutes, turning half way, until they are crispy and gooey

While the aubergines are cooking, chop up the cauliflower into chunks and either pulse in a food processor until it resembles the texture of couscous, or grate with a hand grater.

Add the processed cauliflower to a microwavable bowl and mix in the ground coriander, cumin and dried chillies. Cover the bowl with Clingfilm, piercing a couple of holes through its surface with a fork, and microwave on full power for 7 minutes. Once cooked, add a dash of olive oil and salt to season.

Toast the blanched almonds for a couple of minutes in a dry frying pan until golden.

When the aubergines are cooked, add these to the "couscous" and sprinkle over the toasted almonds, fresh herbs and pomegranate seeds.

Mix the dressing ingredients together and spoon over your dish.

No multi-tasking - eat mindfully! Take a break from your work over lunch to allow you to eat your food slowly, and mindfully. This helps you listen to your hunger signals, stop eating when you are full, and maintain healthy eating patterns throughout the rest of the day.*

Rosie is a London based cook, food blogger and supper club host, training to be a Nutritionist and Dietitian. Find her blog at GlutenFreeRosie.com,she's also on Twitter and Instagram.

Follow Jess on Twitter @Jess_Commons

This article originally appeared on The Debrief.