I have a confession…If you were to take a look in my fridge vegetable drawer you may find a limp, sad old cauliflower turning grey and brown around the edges. I am terrible for meaning well and buying a cauli every now and then, when the time comes to using it I reach for the much more exciting cavalo nero, slim shiny green beans or spunky beetroot!. I was finally inspired out of my CAULIFLOWER APATHY by a delicious eggplant, cauliflower and coriander salad I ate at Christchurchs newly reopened VICS cafe on Victoria street. I raced home and started trawling the internet to find a similar recipe and came up with zero. I thought I did get an audition to Masterchef (which sadly I turned down) surely this can not be too hard to replicate, so here is the recipe I came up with. Any recipe testers out there please let me know how you like it. I teamed mine with a delicious Wholemeal Lentil pie, just like VICS cafe.
Cauliflower and Eggplant salad
- Fresh Cauliflower, Eggplant and Coriander Salad
RECIPE -Cauliflower and Eggplant Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cauliflower, broken into florets and blanched
- 1 medium eggplant
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1/2 tsp coriander ground seeds
- Handful fresh coriander
- 1 clove garlic
- Olive oil – However much is needed to get the job done
- 1 Lemon
- 1 knob of butter
Method
- Pre heat oven to 200 deg
- Boil salted water blanch cauliflower and refresh under cold water. Set aside.
- Chop eggplant into small to medium cubes, drizzle with oil and season with sea salt
- Roast in the pre heated oven for about 20-25 min until cooked through and soft.
- Heat a small frypan and melt the butter and oil, add the garlic and then the spices. Then add in the cauliflower to coat.
- Tip this into a salad bowl add the cooked eggplant, season and add chopped fresh coriander and a squeeze of lemon juice.
- This is excellent on its own as a light salad or great as a side dish.
