Damien's cauliflower salad
“We can now buy small cauliflowers about the size of a tennis ball.”
- 4 baby cauliflower (or ½ regular cauliflower, cut into large pieces)
- 8 button mushrooms, stalks removed
- 50g blanched whole almonds, cut into slivers
- 2 inner stalks of celery cut into 3cm x 5mm sticks
- 2 handfuls baby spinach leaves, washed, dried, excess stems removed
Dressing
- 2 tsp roasted almond oil (or use walnut oil)
- 1 ½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1-2 tsp verjuice salt, freshly ground pepper
At a recent lunch at one of my very favourite restaurants, Bistro Moncur in Sydney, I ate a superb salad of cauliflower, celery and toasted almonds. Here, chef Damien Pignolet is famous for his composed salads and this was an excellent example. The recipe follows at right.
Method
Bring a large saucepan of lightly salted water to the boil. Drop in cauliflower for 2 minutes. Drain, refresh quickly and then soak in icy-cold water for 20 minutes. Drain very well and pat dry in a clean cloth.
Slice mushrooms.
Toast almonds until golden-brown.
Mix the dressing.
In a large bowl, toss all the salad ingredients with the dressing. Taste for seasoning and allow to sit for at least 20 minutes before serving.
To serve
Divide between two plates, or spoon onto a serving platter.
Serves 2.
