Cauliflower, Ginger and Turmeric Salad
Bursting with nutrients, colour and flavour is this cauliflower, ginger and turmeric salad recipe from Jack Monroe. A simple dish inspired by a favourite lunch.
Introduction
This salad is inspired by one I ate for lunch in Brighton while visiting for a political party conference. Unusually for me, I didn’t jot down in my notebook the name of the shop where I bought it. It was a big gorgeous deli somewhere near the sea, with large windows, and this bright goodness caught my eye. I bought a small dish of it, went and sat on the sea wall and tucked in, making notes as I went along. You can pad it out with little pasta shells, or leave it light as a salad, a side or a snack. Apologies to the big-gorgeous-deli people: I’ll be back to find out who and where you are next time I’m there!
Ingredients
| A thumb | of fresh ginger |
| 50ml | oil, sunflower or groundnut, plus a little extra to coat the cauliflower |
| ½ tsp | turmeric |
| 1 | small fresh cauliflower or 200g frozen florets, defrosted |
| 100g | green beans, fresh or frozen and defrosted |
| A generous fistful | of spinach or rocket leaves |
| A squeeze | of lemon juice |
| A fistful | of fresh coriander or parsley |
Method
To make the dressing, peel and finely grate the ginger – you need 1 teaspoon. Pour the oil into a small saucepan, and add the turmeric with the ginger. Warm over a low heat for 2-3 minutes to flavour the oil – it will turn a delicious autumnal yellow. Remove from the heat and allow to cool – you can make the dressing up to a day in advance.
Remove the outside leaves and the tough stalk from the fresh cauliflower, then break it into florets. Top and tail the green beans, if using fresh. Coat the cauliflower with a little oil, and toss in a very hot pan with the beans for 8-10 minutes or until the cauli is golden and the beans soft and slightly charred round the edges.
Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
To serve, drench the vegetables with the dressing and toss them with the spinach or rocket. Add a squeeze of lemon juice and the coriander or parsley. Serve immediately.
Tips:
For a more substantial dish, mix the salad with cooked and cooled rice, pearl barley or lentils. To make it a bit posher, add a handful of flaked almonds, toasted with a little chilli, to serve.
