I Couldn’t Stop Pushing This Salad Around My Plate — The Cauliflower Wins!

As Cathy so eloquently navigates on her site, cooking in New York City isn’t exactly a given/mandatory act, or certainly not the way it would be in a place that doesn’t have umpteen restaurant and take-out options in a four block radius. It is very much a choice — something one opts to do out of interest in choosing what goes into their mouths in a place that makes it really easy to forgo this choice. Honestly, it’s not uncommon to look at an apartment in New York City and exclaim “Awesome! They just renovated the kitchen!” only to learn that new cabinets and appliances were put in two tenants ago, but neither got to turning on the oven.

roasted flowerets

Despite running this site, enjoying cooking and being naturally curious about new recipes and trying ingredient combinations, it has never been cooking-or-bust for me. If I’m tired or uninspired, I’ve got no issue ordering a savory crêpe from down the street or even a grilled-cheese sandwich from one of the many diners around. I welcome the lack of dishes at the end of the evening (even while I look guiltily at all of the waste created from take-out containers). It’s because of this that on the occasion that I make something I’m not head-over-heels in love with, it’s that much more insult to injury. I could have eaten anything in the world for dinner, but instead I’m pushing this salad around my plate after lugging groceries up the stairs and nearly an hour of prep.

rosemary olive oil

Which is not, of course, to say that this salad is not good. In fact, it’s quite good and well, I might even make it again. But somehow it didn’t hit the spot for me last week, and I’ve been procrastinating about sharing it with you since. All of this is silly, because it was really just a few degrees off from what I wanted. The lemon level in the original recipe I adapted from was caustically high, and it did need a little more crunch than I gave it — remembering the last cauliflower dish so fondly, I’m thinking some toasted walnuts would be wonderful.

roasted cauliflower salad

The problem is that this was one of three things I’ve made in the past week that just didn’t do it for me — and certainly didn’t seem to warrant the dishes they created. So, while I take a day to reconsider what I really want to cook for dinner next time, I’m thinking this is a perfect time to throw in another Q&A. We’ve got volumes I, II and III in the archives, but the last one was nearly six months ago and surely you have some burning questions you want me to answer. Oh, you want me to start? Yes, these are my real freckles. Scary, huh?

[Image omitted — original showed roasted cauliflower salad]

One year ago: Black Bean Confetti Salad

Cauliflower, Kidney Bean and Feta Salad

Adapted very loosely from Bon Appetit, January 2007

I’ve adjusted and paraphrased the recipe below; it makes about 6 servings.

At-a-glance

Ingredients

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Toss the cauliflower florets with 3 tablespoons of the olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Spread the florets on a baking sheet and roast, stirring once or twice, until the edges are dark and caramelized — about 20–25 minutes.

2. While the cauliflower roasts, combine the remaining 1/3 cup olive oil with the minced rosemary in a small saucepan. Warm over medium heat just until the rosemary is fragrant, about 1 minute, then remove from the heat and let cool to make a rosemary-scented oil.

3. Whisk together the lemon juice, red wine vinegar, lemon peel (if using), salt and pepper in a small bowl to make the dressing.

4. When the cauliflower is done and still warm, combine it in a medium bowl with the drained kidney beans, sliced endive, chopped chives, parsley and the toasted walnuts. Add the cooled rosemary oil and toss to coat. Mix in the crumbled feta.

5. Add the lemon-vinegar mixture and toss everything until well coated. Taste and adjust with additional salt and pepper as needed before serving.

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