Beautiful Roast Cauliflower Salad is warm and spicy and easy to make.
There is not much love for vegetables in my house. That’s if you ignore the fact that I would rather eat vegetables even over cake. Yep, I would. It has been a bit more of an uphill battle to get Skater, my teenager to eat them if they aren’t covered in tomato sauce. I have had a lot of success with cauliflower fried (as) rice, something you may have seen all over the place these days but it is a recipe that’s a bit of a hero for the disguise of vegetables. My Chicken & Parmesan Meatballs with green sauce is also a wonderful way to hide a vegetable and a quick week night stand by.
Occasionally I need to make extra special vegetable dishes just for me. There’s so much you can do with cauliflower it is amazing. I am not sure why I, and the millions of other people writing recipes didn’t figure out anytime before this that the humble almost cabbagey smelling cauliflower could be used to make so many dishes. Steamed raw or roasted I love it, and so does almost everyone else.
This is a simple cauliflower salad but one that works for this time of year. Whether it’s Spring in your part of town or getting very chilly like it is in mine, this salad is worth making . It’s nice served warm or room temperature.
Try it with BBQed meats or with a slow cooked dish like I did or with some Chicken Schnitzel crumbed with Za’atar and panko crumbs. Just so you know….Skater did not eat this. It contains nuts and pomegranate. Really…
Roast Cauliflower,Walnuts and Pomegranate
Ingredients
- 1 kg cauliflower w whole
- 150 gm gm roasted walnuts 1 cup
- 1/2 pomegranate seeds tapped out of the fruit shell
- 60 ml olive oil 1/4 cup
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 roughly chopped flat parsley leaves
- 1/4 cup roughly chopped mint leaves
- 1/4 cup roughly chopped coriander stalks and leaves
Dressing
- 40 ml pomegranate molasses 2 tablespoons
- 40 ml Orange juice (around 1/2 an orange 2 tablespoons )
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- up to 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons golden syrup this is for the caramel taste and the minimum sweetness
Instructions
- Pre heat the oven to 180C/350F
- Put the cumin, smoked paprika and salt into a bowl with 1/2 of the olive oil.
- Chop the cauliflower into small flowerettes using the core if you like that. Toss the cauliflower in the spice mix and place onto a lined tray and roast until tender and browning around the edges.
- Meanwhile prepare the nuts and chop roughly. Clean and chop the parsley, coriander and mint. Cut the Pomegranate in half and tap with a knife to remove the seeds. Put all of these together in a bowl.
- To make the dressing put all of the dressing ingredients into a jar with a lid and shake well. taste for salt.
- When the cauliflower is ready chop roughly. Toss with the other salad ingredients and dress with the dressing. Serve with extra coriander leaves.
pomegranate arils add such elegance to salads and side dishes! this looks lovely. 🙂
I just came from YBR, I love this delicious recipe. I like to make salads into the star of a dish sometimes just to dress it up. I will definitely try this roast cauliflower and pom warm salad. Thanks so much for sharing your delicious recipe.
Joanne
i can’t get over how lovely pomegranate arils make things look. i enjoy the walnuts in this too!
I love the roasted cauliflower, I eat it often in Indian curries, but I want to try it your salad style 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
I adore roasted cauliflower…and using it in a salad is a divine idea!! Beautiful, too!
I am all for all the veggies! Roasted cauliflower is definitely a favorite at the moment, and i love how you’ve added a fruity touch with the pom arils!
I used to HATE cauliflower yet I never really knew why because if cooked right an mixed with the right ingredients it is delicious! Love the use of the pomegranate for that added lift!So pretty too!
Hi Tania,
I love the combination of cauliflower with pomegranate. So unique, colorful and delicious!!
It’s so pretty Tania! I’m still not in love with cauliflower I have to say but it’s growing on me.
I do think cauliflower is a weak competitor next to cake, and I am someone who rather likes vegetables. You have made it the star of the show in this dish though! What a great mix of ingredients.
I feel the same way about vegetables. Sometimes I just need a plate full of vegetables or a happy salad. This looks like a happy salad.
Cauliflower is the veggie that I can eat every day and still want more! Your warm salad looks beautiful and delicious.
Cauliflower is indeed a wonderful thing Tania! Love the mix of flavours and textures in this yummy dish.
BigJ and Skater would get on well together, potatoes and tomato sauce are two of their main food groups! Xox
I was going to post a pomegranate salad recipe on my blog last week but the pomegranate I bought was awful – the seeds were pale in colour and there was no juice. I will try again this week. I love how this is made with cauliflower – a vegetable that’s so versatile and one that I love xx