Cauliflower and toasted pine nut salad
This recipe is from the The Ballymaloe Cookery School in Ireland.
Cauliflower gets a bright makeover here with zesty lemon juice and toasted pine nuts. It’s a crunchy salad that is chock-full of vitamin C, and cauliflower is part of the cancer-fighting cruciferous family. It's deliciously simple and you can substitute purple or orange cauliflower or even romanesco.
Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 1 large head cauliflower (about 4 cups)
- 2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- Juice and zest of one lemon
Directions
- Remove green leaves from cauliflower, cut stem end off, rinse and place whole head into steam basket in medium sauce pan.
- Steam cauliflower for 6 to 8 minutes until fork tender. Carefully remove cauliflower, rinse in cold water and drain — or, if you wish, put in an ice bath and then drain in colander.
- Once cool enough to handle, cut cauliflower into bite-size florets and place in large serving bowl.
- While cauliflower is steaming, toast pine nuts for 5 minutes in a small skillet over medium heat, tossing occasionally. Be careful as they tend to burn quickly.
- Rinse lemon and dry. Zest the lemon with a grater or microplane, making sure only to zest the yellow part of the peel (the white part can be bitter). Then cut and juice the lemon, removing any seeds.
- Assemble the salad: Drizzle olive oil, lemon juice and zest over the cauliflower, then toss until combined. Top with toasted pine nuts and keep at room temperature and serve.
Nutrition information (per serving)
- Serving size: 1/2 cup
- Calories: 60
- Total fat: 5 g
- Saturated fat: 0.5
- Sodium: 10 g
- Total carbohydrate: 4 g
- Dietary fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 2 g