Marinated Cauliflower Perfection

My husband calls me the George Washington Carver of cauliflower. I'm not sure he means it as a compliment, but I'm going to take it as such. I always liked this lovely veggie, but I have learned to do many many different things with it (as you can see on the blog!). I've made sweet pancakes using cauliflower as flour, tabbouleh using cauliflower instead of bulgur wheat -- so many options!

This week the purple cauliflower in the garden was ready to be picked, and I wanted to do something different with this delicate version. I've tried roasting purple cauliflower before with poor results, and I just didn't want to waste the first harvest from my own garden.

Marinated Cauliflower Salad

So, this lovely marinated cauliflower salad was a perfect and very delicious fit! It's really easy -- lightly blanched cauliflower tossed with a nice vinaigrette and left to soak up the yum. Very refreshing and pretty, even if you only have white cauliflower. I used the purple one and then some extra white -- I had a sense I was going to gobble this up (which I did).

Note: some people do not use capers on ideal protein phase 1. If that's you, just leave them out and add a little extra salt. I've tried it both ways and it's good even without these little gems. 

This is based on Martha Stewart's recipe found here.  I cooked the veg a little longer than she did as it was still too hard for my tastes. I don't want it mushy, but I want it to be ever so slightly softened. I also dropped the oil way down for what I assume are obvious reasons. 

Marinated Cauliflower Salad

1 head cauliflower cut into bite sized pieces

1/2 cup white wine vinegar

1/4 cup chopped green, red or vidalia onion (I like to mix them together)

1 Tbsp. dijon mustard

1/8 cup olive oil

2 tbsp capers 

Course salt and pepper

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Drop in the cauliflower pieces and blanch for 4 minutes. Drain, then put in a bowl.

Whisk together all of the other ingredients. Toss with the cauliflower and refrigerate for up to a day to get those flavors absorbed. Recheck the salt and pepper, and serve.