Today’s dish is a simple lunch inspiration – a warm, jazzed-up roast cauliflower salad with a pleasantly sweet and tangy balsamic and maple syrup dressing. The dressing is a bit on the naughty side but it complements roast cauliflower so well that it would be a shame to do away with it.
Cauliflower is one of these vegetables that I was never too fond of as a child. In my home, it used to be served French or Italian style (not quite sure where it originated) – it was boiled or steamed and topped with brown butter breadcrumbs. I mean I didn’t mind it that much but I wasn’t looking forward to it much either. This is ironic as if butter was vegan, I would appreciate this subtle flavour combo much more now, I’m sure. Like mighty kale, cauliflower is enjoying a bit of a revival and people are much more adventurous when it comes to its preparation. My favourite way by far is coating it in spices and roasting it in the hot oven until fragrant and beautifully caramelised. This is exactly what I did here. To be honest, I had to stop myself from dipping roasted florets in balsamic-maple reduction or else this post would have zero pictures.
1 large cauliflower 1 cup of roast buckwheat seeds from ½ pomegranate a large handful of parsley, chopped finely 2 handfuls of slivered almonds, roasted in a dry pan ½ tsp ground cumin ½ tsp ground cinnamon 1/8 tsp chilli powder ¼ tsp ground coriander salt olive oil
REDUCTION
6 tbsp / 90 ml balsamic vinegar 3 tbsp / 45 ml maple syrup
