Nourishing, warming and delicious, this buckwheat, cauliflower and chickpea salad is a satisfying vegan meal. Roasted cauliflower mixed with nutty buckwheat, protein-filled chickpeas, toasted pumpkin seeds and herbs. Gluten free.
I’m all about the hearty salads and this delicious recipe with buckwheat and cauliflower ticks all the boxes for me:
- filling
- healthy
- satisfying
- vegan
- and, most importantly, delicious.
Have you tried buckwheat before?
It’s nourishing and filling. Combined with roasted cauliflower, red onion, fennel seeds, pumpkin seeds, chickpeas, parsley and lemon juice this salad is a far cry from lettuce leaves.
What is buckwheat?
You would be forgiven for assuming that buckwheat is a grain. Both its name and its appearance would suggest that that is the case.
However, it’s actually a seed. It comes from a plant distantly related to rhubarb. Confusingly it’s gluten free.
Buckwheat has long been popular in Russia, eastern Europe and Asia. Nowadays it’s becoming increasingly available in the UK too.
As well as buckwheat seeds you can also buy buckwheat noodles and flour.
What is the difference between toasted buckwheat and non-toasted?
For the best flavour you should toast your buckwheat first. It is possible to buy pre-toasted buckwheat. If yours isn’t toasted you should toast your own before cooking – it only takes a few minutes.
How to toast buckwheat
Place the buckwheat in a dry frying pan over a medium heat. Toast for 4-5 minutes until golden brown. Stir occasionally.
How to cook buckwheat
Once your buckwheat has been toasted you can boil it. For 225g buckwheat add 500ml cold water. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 8-10 minutes.
Turn off the heat and leave to rest. The buckwheat will absorb any remaining water.
What to serve with this cauliflower salad
This buckwheat and cauliflower salad is a meal in itself. However it also goes well with:
More recipes you might like
- Celeriac and chestnut buckwheat salad
- Banana and blueberry buckwheat bars
- Sweet potato salad with blueberries, walnuts and buckwheat
- Buckwheat pancakes
- Whole roasted cauliflower
- Fennel and orange salad
- Kohlrabi slaw
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How to make this buckwheat, cauliflower and chickpea salad
1. Roast your cauliflower florets with a sliced red onion, 1 tbsp fennel seeds and 1 tbsp olive oil.
2. Mix together the juice of a lemon and 1 tbsp olive oil.
3. Mix with the cooked buckwheat, chickpeas, chopped parsley and toasted pumpkin seeds. Pour over the lemon juice and olive oil and mix everything together.
If you have made this recipe and loved it please consider leaving a comment and rating below.
Buckwheat, cauliflower and chickpea salad
Ingredients
- 1 medium cauliflower broken into florets
- 1 red onion peeled and sliced
- 1 tbsp fennel seeds
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 225 g buckwheat toasted
- 500 ml water
- 400 g tinned chickpeas drained and rinsed
- 40 g pumpkin seeds toasted
- Small handful flat leaf parsley chopped
- 1 lemon juiced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/200°C/gas mark 6.
- Place the cauliflower florets into a roasting dish with a sliced red onion, 1 tbsp fennel seeds and 1 tbsp olive oil.
- Roast in the pre-heated oven for 20 minutes, stir and roast for a further 20 minutes.
- While the cauliflower is roasting cook the buckwheat. If yours isn’t toasted toast it in a dry frying pan first - see instructions above for more details.
- Place 225g toasted buckwheat and 500ml cold water in a saucepan. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer for eight-ten minutes. Leave to stand until all the water is absorbed.
- Mix together the juice of a lemon and 1 tbsp olive oil. Toast your pumpkin seeds for a minute or two on a dry frying pan.
- Place the cooked buckwheat in a large mixing bowl and add the roasted cauliflower mixture, a drained tin of chickpeas, 40g toasted pumpkin seeds, a small handful of chopped flat leaf parsley and the lemon and olive oil mixture. Mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
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