Monday, January 19, 2009

Roast Cauliflower Salad

This is a quick dish, inspired by the fact that I had a head of cauliflower in the fridge, a roasted red pepper in the freezer, and some lettuce. Googling around for cauliflower salad ideas, I also chanced upon this post from Yulinka Cooks, which makes me think that Eastern Europeans have some sort of special love for cauliflower. I happen to adore the vegetable in all its forms: it can be crunchy, nutty, juicy, or smooth. It's also delicious in lots of Indian preparations, but alas, this is not an Indian food blog. So:


This cauliflower has been tossed in olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roasted on a pan at 450 degrees for about 20 minutes. I think this was a bit hot, and I had to rescue it before it got burnt, but I really enjoyed the "almost burnt" flavour. (It tasted a bit like breadcrumbs sauteed in butter.) I defrosted a roasted red pepper and cut it into strips, thinly sliced half an onion, and piled it all on top of lettuce.

For the dressing, I mixed about 1 tsp honey, 1 tsp dijon mustard, 1 tsp white wine vinegar, and two or three tsp olive oil, salt and pepper, and drizzled it on top. This made a wonderful evening dinner. The sharp onion was offset by the smooth pepper, and the roasted cauliflower gave the whole meal consistency.