As I was paying for my strawberries at my
local U-pick patch this spring I noticed a display of beautiful cauliflower by
the register. It wasn't ordinary white cauliflower. Rather, it was a mix of beautiful lavender heads and pale orange heads. When I asked about them, I was told it had
been picked that morning. I chose one of
the orange ones (a variety called Cheddar) to take home with me.
When I got it home I broke off a floret
and tasted it. I couldn't believe how
tender and mild it was. I knew that whatever
I decided to do with it, I would have to serve it in its raw form. Boiling/steaming it...or roasting it... somehow
seemed unappreciative of its pristine freshness.
As I thought about what to do, I
envisioned a crunchy and tangy vinegar and oil based salad with a lively
interplay of salty (Capers? Anchovies? Olives? Feta?...) and sweet (Golden
raisins? Currants? Honey? Mint?) flavors.
I ended up making a salad that is a very loose adaptation of a delicious
looking cauliflower slaw that I ran across on Smitten Kitchen.
The "recipe" I'm posting is
truly meant to be mostly a template or a starting off point. To begin with, you should add all of the
salty and sweet components to suit your tastes.
As I was making my salad, I set my salad bowl on my scale and just wrote
down the weights of the different ingredients as I added them so I could pass
them on here...but it's just meant to be a guideline. On another day...with another head of
cauliflower...I might add more or less of each.
Neither should you feel particularly married to the specific ingredients
that I chose as long as you maintain a balance of salty and sweet. I used a favorite marinated Greek green olive
(from the olive bar at Whole Foods)...but you could impart a salty and tangy
component with another kind of tangy olive...or capers (I would only use about
half as many capers as I did olives)...or crumbled Feta cheese.
Since I wanted my salad to be a study in
greens and golds, I chose golden raisins for my dried fruit addition...but currants
or dark raisins would be fine too.
Continuing with my color theme, I chose to add pistachios. But sliced almonds or chopped walnuts would
work well too.
As for the vinegar, I happen to like the
clean acidity of champagne vinegar...but any number of other pale vinegars
would work well. White or Golden
Balsamic, with its pronounced sweetness would be great. Plain white wine...or cider...or rice wine
vinegars would all be good. I find cider
vinegar to be more acidic, so would probably use less of that. Rice wine vinegar on the other hand is quite
mild and I would probably use more. In
any case, you should always adjust the acidity of a salad to suit your palate.
Finally, I want to put in a plug for the
mint. When I tasted what I thought was
my finished salad I felt that there was something missing. As I considered this, I thought about adding
honey and rejected this as too sweet. I
also had some beautiful arugula that I thought might be nice...but didn't think
its peppery nuttiness was what I was missing.
Then I remembered my overflowing mint patch and knew that mint would add
just the right sweet and aromatic note.
And it did. If you don't happen
to like mint, flat leaf parsley would probably be a fine substitution.
I had thought that I would post some kind
of dessert recipe over this Memorial Day weekend, but I think this salad was a
good choice instead. Traditionally this
weekend serves as the official kick off of summer and the season of backyard parties....and
picnics...and barbecues. And of course
these are all perfect places for serving this lively slaw-like salad. I am certain that you will find many occasions
during the warm months to come where this salad...or one like it...will be just
the thing.
Shaved Cauliflower Salad
with Green Olives, Pistachios, Golden Raisins & Mint
2 to 3 spring onions, including some of
the green—trimmed and rinsed
2 T. Champagne vinegar
1 small to medium head cauliflower (about
10 to 12 oz. trimmed and cored weight)
1/3 c. (40 g.) pitted green Olives, cut lengthwise
into strips
1/3 c. (55 g) Golden Raisins, roughly
chopped
1/3 c. (45 g.) toasted Pistachios (lightly
toasted and coarsely chopped)
1/2 t. kosher salt, more or less to taste
1/8 t. hot pepper flakes, or to taste
1/4 c. olive oil
2 to 3 T. finely shredded (chiffonade)
mint (or flat leaf parsley, if you prefer)
Depending on the maturity of your spring
onions, halve or quarter the white and pale green parts lengthwise. Thinly slice crosswise. You should have about 1/3 cup white and pale
green. Place in a small bowl with the
vinegar and set aside. Thinly slice
about 2 T. of the dark green. Set aside.
Break the cauliflower down into large
florets or simply quarter it. Using a
large chef's knife, thinly slice the florets/quarters (1/8- to
1/4-inch thick...it's ok if the slices are not all uniformly the same thickness
as long as they are thin). Place the
florets in a large bowl with the all of the remaining ingredients, as well as
the prepared onions and vinegar. Toss
until everything is well combined. Taste
and correct the seasoning and balance.
Can be served right away, or chilled before serving. Serves 4 to 6.
Note: This salad...like most slaws...is
best the day it is made. However, you
can make it the day before and it will hold up surprisingly well....just be
sure to taste it and correct the seasoning before serving. After sitting overnight it will most likely
need more salt and possibly more vinegar.
Finally, if you are making it ahead, use a sparing hand with the mint
which can become quite strong after sitting on the other ingredients
overnight.
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