Baked Cauliflower Winter Salad

Jan 30

Baked cauliflower, grilled sweet red pepper, poached eggs … multiple cooking techniques come together to create a dish that’s worth every bit of effort. In about 30 minutes you’ll have a delicious and nourishing salad. Dressed with a lemon and olive oil vinaigrette with a touch of orange and a few lines of balsamic vinegar this salad will charm you with a handful of sweet and sour notes. I don’t know about some grated parmesan cheese over the top, or maybe a few pieces of feta, it’s up to you.

The steps

Dressing

Start with the dressing by mixing well all the ingredients in a cup or a small jar. Olive oil, lemon juice, orange juice, salt and pepper.

Cooking and preparing

Preheat the oven to 210C with ventilation.

Preheat a cast iron grill pan or skillet. ( If you don’t have a cast iron grill pan or skillet use a thick bottom stainless steel pan. This is for the red peppers. Because we don’t use any liquid by grilling the peppers it’s not recommended to use a non stick coated skillet because it can be damaged due to high temperature. So cast iron or inox. The last solution is to bake the peppers together with the cauliflower but you’ll loose the smoky flavour. )

Half fill with water a 14 or 16 cm casserole and bring it to a boil then lower the heat and add a tea spoon of salt and a tablespoon of white vinegar.

Wash and cut or tear the cauliflower in bite sized pieces, put them in a medium bowl, pour over a table spoon of olive oil and a pinch of salt and mix well so the olive oil touches every cauliflower bouquet. Next, place the bouquets in the baking tray on baking paper and put them into the oven. Bake them for about 20-25 minutes until they are golden on the top.

Once the grill pan is heated grill the peppers on all sides, then let them rest in a bowl with a pinch of salt over. It’s up to you if you want to take the peel off.

Cut the red beet in medium dice pieces.

While the cauliflower is finishing cooking, poach the eggs in the simmering water from the casserole for about 4 minutes for firm whites and creamy yolks.

Assembling the salad

When the cauliflower bouquets are golden take the baking tray out of the oven and let it chill for 5 minutes or so. On a large plate arrange the cauliflower and the red beet in a round shape, add the chopped red peppers and place the poached egg over the top.

Make a short cut in the poached egg just enough to let some yolk run into the salad and pour the dressing evenly with a spoon. If you want this is the moment to sprinkle over the grated parmesan cheese.

Also some grilled bread croutons are a good idea here.

Enjoy !

INGREDIENTS - for one portion

Organic or “Best you can get” !