Gluten Free Parsnip Tabouli

When reading Kris Carr's Crazy Sexy Kitchen, her tabouli recipe blew my mind. Who'd have thought raw parsnips could sub for couscous? I didn't follow her recipe here -- I couldn't find it -- long story. I just tried to remember what I'd read and mixed that with my Dad's old recipe from his days working in the  Middle East. From memory, here's last night's Tabouli:

Parsnip Tabouli
1 bunch of Italian parsley, chopped
3 Tbsp. fresh mint, chopped
2 ripe tomatoes, diced
6 raw parsnips, peeled if not organic, cut into large chunks
1 large clove of garlic, peeled
3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
juice of half a lemon
salt and pepper
In a food processor, mince the parsnips and the garlic, scraping the sides periodically so the parsnips are all minced evenly. Keep pulsing and scraping until the vegetables are the consistency of cooked couscous. Combine the parsnips with all other ingredients and mix well.

This salad was really delicious, and was a big hit with the meat-eaters too. The parsnips are such a light, lovely consistency and are very subtly sweet, which goes surprisingly well with garlic. This morning I did find Kris' recipe and discovered that she doesn't use parsley at all -- cucumbers instead, and her proportions are different -- lots more garlic. I'm sure hers is delicious, and look forward to trying it soon. I bet this salad would be good, and different, with other herbs as well. Maybe I will try it with fresh dill next time, which always goes so nicely with lemon.

I will be making some changes to my diet, including reducing or eliminating gluten, and this recipe is perfect for that. More news on the diet changes as they evolve.