Raw cauliflower salad?

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Checked a few cookbooks. One in particular The Art Of Cooking has has a recipe for Cream Of Cauliflower Soup.

1/2 head of cauliflower
1 Cup chicken stock or bouillion
3 Tbs of butter
3 Tbs of All purpose flour
1-1/2 Cups milk
1 Cup whipping cream
Salt and white pepper to taste
Chervil sprigs

1. Break the cauliflower into small flowerets
2. Bring the stock to a boil in a large saucepan. Add cauliflower, cook 5 to 8 min or until tender.
3. Set aside a few flowerets to garnish. Pour the remaining mixture into a blender or food processor. Puree. Set aside.
4. Melt your butter in a large saucepan. Add flour cook 1 min, stirring constantly. Add milk slowly stirring until mixture thickens.
5. Stir in cream and pureed cauliflower mix, cook until heated through. Season with s&p.
6 Ladle into small bowls. Top each with reserved flowerets and sprigs.
Makes 4 servings.
 
On a side not in another cookbook.
It mentions that if the cauliflower goes soft tend to turn slightly bitter and will ruin your soup.
*bitter and soft* sounds like a cranky lady* ;)
 
Lastly beside oven roasted idea.
Here's one from The Country Cooking Recipe Collection
This recipe was submitted by Coleen DeMuth, Le Mar's,Iowa

Cauliflower Au Gratin
1 large head cauliflower
1/4 Cup butter or margarine, divided
1/2 Cup diced onion
1-1/2 cups (6oz) shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup (8oz) sour cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 Cup dry breadcrumbs

Break the cauliflower into sections. Cook for 10 minutes in boiling salted water. Drain well. Add 2 tablespoons butter, onion,cheeses, sour cream and salt. Spoon into a 1-1/2qt. casserole dish. Melt the remaining butter and toss with the breadcrumbs. Sprinkle on top.
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until heated through.
Yields: 10-12 servings.
The picture makes it look really good :)
 
Our favorite way is cauliflower wings. Chicken wings made of cauliflower, lol.
We batter them with a flour/water/seasonings mix (I use tomato dressing or brown sauce for flavor), then breaded, then baked on parchment at 350 deg F for about an hour. Serve them up with a mustard/hotsauce, or we use a stir fry sauce, or brown sauce. I like them the second day when the crust is softer but mr bliss likes them the first day.

With cauliflower that is blanched or partially cooked, then kept in the fridge (say in a pasta salad), it tends to smell very strongly and it is unpleasant. Instead, leave raw or cook completely to avoid the problem.
 
I never made a raw cauliflower salad with it, but I've used the core, and thick stems the same way I "pickle" the peeled broccoli stems and kohlrabi - toss with a little salt - a tsp/2 c sliced stems, and let sit for an hour. Then just drain the slices, and toss in 1½ tb dark sesame oil (or use hot oil, if desired) over medium heat for 30 seconds or so - not really to cook, but to get the oil into the slices.

And if you are into Indian food, here is a place I have found more recipes than anywhere, with some unusual ones, for chopped, sliced, and grated cauliflower. They also have a few for cauliflower greens - something that can be used like other brassica greens, like komatsuna and senposai, as well as kohlrabi greens.

This blog, and some other Indian recipe sites have some unusual names for some foods, if you haven't seen them. One is caraway seeds, which is not our caraway, but shahjeerah, or black cumin. And capsicum, which is bell peppers.
 
When fresh cauliflower is available, I often chop up some raw cauliflower to add to salads. When the pieces aren't too big, they add a nice crunch and flavour to the salad.

I make a Scandinavian broccoli salad. That would probably work with cauliflower. Here's the recipe for the broccoli salad: https://www.copymethat.com/r/Ps3KiGMBT/broccolisalat-broccoli-salad/

Cauliflower florets are great along with carrot, celery sticks, etc. as crudités.
 
I have that exact same recipe picked up from Trisha Yearwood's Georgia cooking in Oklahoma - LOL

Another one I have, which I like a leetle bit better. It has halved grapes and celery plus celery seed added. Think I like this one as it makes almost a meal of itself.

INGREDIENTS:
  • 5 to 6 cups of small raw broccoli florets (from about 2 large heads of broccoli with stalks discarded) I added the stalks! or at least the ones I didn't eat.
  • 1 1/2 cups red seedless grapes, halved
  • 1 cup celery, diced small
  • about 3/4 to 1 cup cooked bacon, diced small
  • about 3/4 cup sunflower seeds (I use salted)
  • about 3/4 cup raisins
  • about 3 green onions, trimmed and sliced into thin rounds
1 heaping cup mayonnaise (I use light)​
1/3 cup granulated sugar​
about 2 to 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, or as desired for consistency​
1 teaspoon celery seed​
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste​
This makes a huge amount, but easily downsized. When making a smaller amount I still made the whole amount of dressing but only added enough to coat, kept the rest in a jar. Best to make early so as to refrigerate and serve well chilled. Everyone loved it. I don't see why it should not work with cauliflower. (Because on occasion I have mixed broccoli and cauliflower in the same salad.)​
 
Also have recipes for :-
Cauliflower Tots
Baked Cauliflower Tots II
Cauliflower Steaks with Ginger, Tumeric and Cumin
Cauliflower Cheese Fritters
Cheesy Cauliflower "Bread" Sticks
Morrocan Cauliflower "Steaks" with Caramelized Onion Couscous
Shrimp with White Chocolate Sauce and Mashed Cauliflower
Cod, Cauliflower & Chorizo (or Pepperoni) Mornay

Some of these I have made, some not, some great, others not so
Let me know if you want any written out.
 
Salad.jpg
And there it is--a raw cauliflower salad! I'm so happy. I cut the cauliflower into bite size pieces, added shaved white onion, halved pitted Kalamata olives, and slices of red bell pepper. A dressing of white wine vinegar, extra virgin oiive oil, minced garlic, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper marinated the salad for a few hours in the refrigerator. Just before serving I added snipped fresh parsley (more because I have a lot of parsley than because it was needed). Next time I'll make a bigger salad since "leftover" is just as good after a day or two.
 
View attachment 64869
And there it is--a raw cauliflower salad! I'm so happy. I cut the cauliflower into bite size pieces, added shaved white onion, halved pitted Kalamata olives, and slices of red bell pepper. A dressing of white wine vinegar, extra virgin oiive oil, minced garlic, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper marinated the salad for a few hours in the refrigerator. Just before serving I added snipped fresh parsley (more because I have a lot of parsley than because it was needed). Next time I'll make a bigger salad since "leftover" is just as good after a day or two.
I am signed up for a weekly recipe newsletter from a Danish cooking site. Today, one of the recipes was for a cauliflower salad. I was going to go hunting for this thread to tell you about it. It's very similar to what you made, so I won't give the whole recipe, just the ingredients.
Cauliflower, raw in florets and blanched
bacon in cubes, fried to crispy
fresh tomato, cut into wedges
pine nuts
fresh parsley, chopped
Dressing is similar, but they add some Dijon
The instructions say to marinate for 15-30 minutes in the fridge and add bacon, pine nuts, and parsley right before serving.

There were a few comments from people who had tried it and they all loved it, but had suggestions for other toppings, e.g., Kalamata olives, prosciutto instead of bacon, feta, croutons. Several people said not to blanch the cauliflower, it gets too watery. Also that it was good the next day.
 
Small world ain't it!

Personally I wouldn't have blanched them in the first place.
Like the choice between bacon (forethought) prosciutto (after thought)

Both sound great!
 
Small world ain't it!

Personally I wouldn't have blanched them in the first place.
Like the choice between bacon (forethought) prosciutto (after thought)

Both sound great!
I would skip blanching the cauliflower too. I think this is probably an old recipe, from when people didn't eat vegis raw nearly as much as we do now. I have found older recipes for the broccoli salad that include blanching the broccoli, but the updated versions don't usually include blanching the broccoli.
 
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