Is the humble cauliflower enjoying a new renaissance? Whether you work in food or simply enjoy your home-cooking time, it appears that this pearly white cluster of florets is now proudly sitting at the forefront of the pantry. We have devised creative ways to turn it into cous cous and have compounded it into pizza bases (although the jury is still out on that one…), we are using it as a potato substitute in thick, wintery soups and enjoy it raw, thinly sliced like a carpaccio. Is there anything cauliflower can’t do? It turns out, you can also roast it until deliciously caramelized and crunchy, but still tender to the bite. With the added nutritional boost provided by vitamin C, K, B6 and folate, I am pretty much convinced that cauliflower wears the crown as the healthiest cruciferous!
INGREDIENTS, SERVES 4
1 cauliflower heard, cut into florets
4 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons of baby capers, roughly chopped
2 anchovy fillets, thinly chopped
1-2 French shallots, finely chopped
1 small chillie, finely chopped
2 tablespoons of white balsamic vinegar
2 more tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper for seasoning
METHOD
1. Pre-heat you oven to 200 C (395 F)
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and cook the cauliflower florets for 5-8 minutes, or until soft but still retaining some firmness. Drain well then tumble onto an oven tray lined with baking paper. Season with oil, salt and pepper and roast for 30 minutes or until golden.
3. Make the dressing by mixing together baby capers, anchovies, chillies, vinegar and oil. Taste for salt and adjust accordingly.
4. Pour the dressing over the roasted cauliflower florets and scatter fresh herbs on top. Enjoy warm or at room temperature as a light lunch or a side dish.
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I love cauliflower. I’m yet to try things like cauliflower bread and cauliflower pizza base though. Cauliflower cheese has always been a favourite of mine.
Oh yes, cauliflower cheese is the ultimate comfort food!
I agree with you — cauliflower can do just about anything — I’m surprised Popeye hasn’t decided to expand his vegetables. I can see me eating this salad year round!! I have roasted cauliflower but never turned it out into a salad. Thank you for the inspiration. Do you think I could skip the boiling step and just roast in the oven or would it lose out on the texture?
I wouldn’t skip it… It is an essential step to retain moisture. It can be a bit dry otherwise
As somehow who’s always love cauliflower, I love this recipe! A great way to enjoy the vegetable even in the warm weather months… gonna give this a try this weekend.
By the way, this works well with brussle sprouts too!
Ooooh this sounds great! Anchovies…capers….yes!!!
My only concern was trying to get my daughter to eat it. She is pretty good with most foods, but I have never managed to get her to eat cauliflower. But then as I scrolled down to comment I saw you mention it would work with brussels. BINGO!!!
We love brussels, so this will definitely be in next weeks menu rotation.
YUM.
I have recently started a food sharing site, photo site. Similar to the likes of foodgawker and tastespotting, only no where near at their scale!!!! We all have to start somewhere, I guess.
I would love to have you contribute your photos. I love food and I love food blogs, my sister, and a couple of friends have blogs and I know how hard they works and how despondent my sister is when something doesn’t make it onto the big sites. So I started Delishogram for all the food bloggers with amazing photos and amazing food. I want it to be a site that just celebrates food and cooking.
I would love to have you contribute, please think about popping over.
Have a great weekend.
Louise x