Most vegetables have different personalities when they're cooked: braised radishes become sweet, subtle, downright alluring; broccoli eaten raw is often wooden and uninteresting but fried in peanut oil with cashews or tossed with rapini in sesame oil it can be a magnificently earthy conduit of flavour; and cauliflower -- the wall flower at the vegetable dip party, white and bulbous -- turns tricks when roasted or stewed in tandoori spices or pickled. Even if you don't like pickles, you will like pickled cauliflower. Trust me. It's addictive.
This cauliflower salad isn't so much pickled as steamed and then, while hot, doused in a dense vinaigrette with capers for extra acidity and bite.
And, when it's cooked just enough that it loses its cruciferous burn, cauliflower absorbs ingredients swiftly and dutifully. Refrigerated, this salad retains its zing and vibrancy for a few days although I like it best just cooked, still steaming.
Great with grilled white fish or tossed with pasta and toasted breadcrumbs.
Cauliflower Salad with Parsley and Thyme in a Caper Vinaigrette**
1 large cauliflower, broken into florets
2 garlic cloves, mashed/pressed/minced
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves (run your hands down the stem, the leaves will shed easily)
1/4 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
3 tablespoons capers, rinsed
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
red pepper flakes
salt
** Garbanzo beans are a personal choice but great if you're looking to make this a salad lunch.
1. Place a steamer in the bottom of a large pot over one inch of water. Place the cauliflower in the basket and bring to a boil. Steam for one minute, lift the lid for a few seconds, then cover again and steam for 6-8 minutes, until tender. Drain and rinse under cold water for 2 minutes and set aside in a colander to continue draining.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the garlic, parsley, thyme, tomatoes, capers, vinegar and olive oil. Season with the red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Add the cauliflower and toss together. Marinate at room temperature for an hour. Serve warm as a side to grilled fish. Serve cold as a salad on a bed of mixed lettuces.
Makes 6 side portions or 3 single portions.
p.s. Grow herbs. As much and as many as possible. Then experiment. You can't reproduce the vitality that fresh mint or basil or lemon thyme bring to a dish, especially the simplest of dishes like sliced tomatoes or tossed greens or grated carrots, and in the fall when the first frosts hit your sage will still rally and you can casually toss some into your mushroom risotto. Herbs, in a pinch, especially for simplistic palettes, can add just enough punch to make a dish interesting.
