This roasted cauliflower, chickpea, and tempeh moghrabieh is a vegan version of a Lebanese soup often made with chicken. Moghrabieh refers to the large, chewy grain used in the dish. It looks and cooks a lot like pearl couscous, and it gives the soup a hearty base.

The recipe keeps the warm spices that make moghrabieh distinct, including Lebanese seven spice, caraway, cinnamon, nutmeg, thyme, and black pepper. Instead of chicken, roasted tempeh, cauliflower, and chickpeas bring texture and plant protein. Roasting them first gives the soup more flavor.

Read more: Lentil Curry Soup

This recipe comes from The Vegan Middle Eastern Cookbook by Noha Elbadry-Cloud. Serve this moghrabieh for dinner on a cold day or when you want a filling meal to share. Spoon the cooked moghrabieh into bowls, ladle the broth over it, then add parsley, scallions, and lemon. The lemon adds a fresh finish to the spiced broth and roasted vegetables.

Reprinted with permission from The Vegan Middle Eastern Cookbook by Noha Elbadry-Cloud. Page Street Publishing Co. 2023. Photo credit: Noha Elbadry-Cloud.

Method for this roasted cauliflower, chickpea, and tempeh moghrabieh

This vegan moghrabieh uses roasted cauliflower, chickpeas, tempeh, Lebanese seven spice, caraway, and pearl couscous-like moghrabieh. It makes six servings and works well as a warm winter dinner.

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Servings

Ingredients

For the Soup

2 (16-oz [454-g]) blocks tempeh chopped
1 small head cauliflower broken into florets
1½ cups (246 g) cooked chickpeas
2 tsp (8 g) Lebanese 7 Spice divided
2 tsp (10 g) sea salt, divided
1 tbsp (15 ml) neutral oil
1 tbsp (15 g) vegan butter
1 large onion chopped
6 medium sage leaves thinly sliced
1 tsp ground caraway
1 tsp black pepper
1 cube vegetable bouillon

For the Moghrabieh

1 tbsp (15 g) vegan butter
1½ cups (336 g) moghrabieh or pearl couscous
½ tsp dried thyme
½ tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp sea salt

To Serve

Chopped fresh parsley
Chopped scallions
Lemon slices
Sautéed honeynut squash and bell peppers
Preheat the oven to 420°F 215°C.

Instructions

In a large bowl, mix together the tempeh, cauliflower, chickpeas, 1 teaspoon of Lebanese 7 spice, 1 teaspoon of salt and the oil until well incorporated. Transfer the mixture to a sheet pan and roast, flipping once or twice to cook evenly, until everything is crispy, about 30 minutes. Remove the sheet pan from the oven and set it aside.
In a large pot, melt the vegan butter over medium heat. Once bubbling, add the onion and cook until softened and golden, about 10 minutes. Add the sage and cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the remaining Lebanese 7 spice and salt along with the caraway and black pepper. Stir together for 30 seconds. Add the bouillon, 5 cups (1.2 L) of water and the roasted cauliflower, chickpeas and tempeh. Turn the heat to high. Once boiling, reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat.
To make the moghrabieh, bring 2¼ cups (540 ml) of water to a boil in a medium pot. Stir in the butter, moghrabieh, thyme, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 10 minutes, or until almost all the water has been absorbed. Remove the pot from the heat and let it sit covered for 5 minutes. Fluff the moghrabieh and set it aside.
Plate the moghrabieh, then ladle the broth over it. Top with more moghrabieh and garnish with parsley, scallions and lemon. Serve with your choice of side dish, if desired.

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