I hate, hate, hate the word diet. Probably because I’ve been on them all when I was in my teens and even later on in my early 20s. I shudder to think about how much time I wasted downing magic pills, powders, teas and other ridiculous potions. Or counting calories, weighing myself, depriving myself of the joy of eating, and trying to be something I wasn’t… and would never be — skinny. It took time (and a lot of episodes of Nigella’s cooking shows) to convince me that curvy was fine and that food should be a source of pleasure. At the ripe old age of 38, I am comfortable in my own skin and will never ever, ever EVER turn down a burger or a pizza (p.s.: my WORD did we eat a great pizza last Saturday at Woodstone in Almere!) Oh yeah, and I also eat sugar and bread!
For me, it really is all about balance. I could care less what the latest scientific findings say I should be eating. My diet involves a bit of common sense, a bit of running and walking and a LOT of enjoyment.
But what is ‘common sense’? To me that means eating a mostly organic diet full of fresh fruits and vegetables, consuming good sources of dairy (skyr, kefir and goat milk products), eating small amounts of meat and fish, staying well hydrated, and adding healthy foods to my diet such as turmeric (I drink a cup of turmeric tea every day), chia seeds and coconut. This, is something I do most of the time. I often joke that calories don’t count on weekends…I think that also applies to our French vacations!
During the week, I try to keep my carbs in check by substituting grains as much as possible. I adore cauliflower rice and mash, for example. Recently, I used the vegetable in a flavorful tabbouleh which I am sharing with you today. It’s a great no-cook, low-carb meal that you can tweak in many different ways by substituting other ingredients. If you want a less ‘raw’ dish, you can cook the tiny bits of cauliflower in a little olive oil for 5-8 minutes.
Let it be said that I overindulged in freshly-baked croissants with confiture de lait this past weekend! Enjoy!
Raw Cauliflower Tabbouleh with Shrimp
Serves 4-6
- juice of 1 lemon
- 4 tbsps good olive oil
- fleur de sel
- freshly cracked pepper
- 1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets
- small bunch each of parsley and chives
- 60g capers
- 100g sundried tomatoes
- 300g large cooked shrimp
In a large bowl, whisk the lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper into a vinaigrette. Put the cauliflower florets in a processor and blitz them until they resemble rice. Add the cauliflower to the bowl along with the fresh herbs, capers, sundried tomatoes and shrimp. Stir everything well and leave in the fridge for at least an hour before serving.