Mediterranean Grated Cauliflower Salad Recipe {Vegan} - (2024)

Have you ever tried a grated cauliflower salad? No cooking required! Serve this as a vegan dinner or a side dish. 270 calories and 3 Weight Watchers SP for entree portion.

Mediterranean Grated Cauliflower Salad Recipe {Vegan}

This Mediterranean greated cauliflower salad just might surprise you. It's perhaps the bane of the humble cauliflower's existence that it rarely tops anyone's list of favorite vegetables. Corn, tomato, carrots. For me, mushrooms. Those are the favored children of the vegetable family, while cauliflower fights it out with turnips and mustard greens to avoid sitting on the chair of shame in the corner.

But I am here to stand up for this neglected veggie and to convince you to grab a head of cauliflower or a bag of cauliflower rice the next time you're at the grocery store. If you want to just steam the cauliflower florets and serve them with butter, knock yourself out. But there are so many other ways to enjoy cauliflower that just may elevate it into your top five.

To start, you can roast cauliflower with rosemary or with Indian spices. Serve it in an easy homemade puttanesca sauce, a hearty vegan soup or my all-time favorite slow cooker vegetable curry. So many options!

I first tried a grated cauliflower salad a couple of years and was shocked at how good it was. The raw, grated cauliflower stays crispy, but has a really pleasant texture because the pieces are so small. You can either pulse the cauliflower florets in a food processor, which takes about 30 seconds, grate them on a box grater or use store-bought cauliflower rice. Pair the cauliflower with any other veggie from your top five list (or branch out!) and toss it all with a vinaigrette.

In this grated cauliflower salad recipe, I whisked together a simple lemon vinaigrette and tossed the cauliflower with diced roasted red peppers (see How to Roast a Bell Pepper), chickpeas and capers. The capers definitely make it, but if you're not a fan, you could substitute olives.

Other healthy cauliflower recipes:

Baked Cauliflower Casserole with Goat Cheese {Cookin' Canuck}
Italian Split Pea Stew with Cauliflower {Cookin' Canuck}
Roasted Cauliflower & Edamame Hummus {Runway Chef}
Chicken Vegetable Pizza {My Life Cookbook}

Printable Recipe

This post was originally published on October 31, 2016 and was updated on September 5, 2019.

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