Cauliflower has always been one of my favorite vegetables, but somehow my repertoire for cooking with this wonderful veggie is very limited. The salad in this recipe is something I winged not long ago, and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. So now I have another cauliflower dish to add to my repertoire.
Much of the flavor in this salad comes from the sun-dried tomatoes and the olive oil they simmer in. I used julienned, sliced sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil (they came spiced with secret Italian herbs [probably oregano, thyme, and rosemary]) and garlic. All I had to do was to strain the tomatoes a little to avoid too much oil in the salad.
If you buy dry, plain sun-dried tomatoes, place them in a jar, add ½ tsp dried oregano, ½ tsp dried thyme, ¼ tsp rosemary, ½ tsp garlic powder, and ¼ tsp salt. Cover with extra virgin olive oil and let sit for a couple of days to infuse all the flavors into the oil.
1 head cauliflower
Salt and pepper
Olive oil for drizzling
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil and herbs
1 ½ cups green peas
1 stalk of scallion
Salt
Cut the cauliflower into small florets, about 1 ½ inches. Place on a baking sheet, sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle olive oil. Roast at 400F for about 20 minutes, until cauliflower is cooked but still firm. Remove from the heat and chill.
In a small sauce pan, bring the peas to a boil. Remove from the heat and drain.
If your sun-dried tomatoes are whole, slice them into strips about ¼ inch wide.
Slice the scallion into ¼ inch strips cut on an angle.
In a large bowl combine the cauliflower, peas, scallion, and sun-dried tomatoes and stir. Add salt as needed. Let sit for a couple of hours to absorb the flavors.
