a whisk and a spoon

Everyday Dorie: Cauliflower Tabbouleh

Cauliflower– it’s so hot right now. Turns out that something once viewed as boring, pale and bland has the “caulipower” to transform itself into pizza crust, rice, tots, and a cream sauce substitute. No longer do we over-steam and under-season hacked up crumbly florets and toss them in melted butter so we can sadly choke them down; we gleefully and wildly slather cauliflower with every spice and paste we can get our hands on and roast it whole (one of my favorite ways to prepare it, btw) or deep fry it in nugget-form and drench it in delicious sauce. We even eat the leaves, which just a few years ago were generally regarded as trash. And now we make Cauliflower Tabbouleh out of it! I joke. I eat tons of cauliflower, and have nothing but supreme veggie respect for it. In fact, two weeks ago I got my teeth whitened and it sustained me for four days in a row, in the forms of pureed cauliflower-potato soup and cauliflower cheese pasta.

Back to the matter at hand…when I think of tabbouleh, I think of a salad that’s very heavy on the chopped herbs, with a little tomato and bulgur mixed through. An herb salad really, rather than a grain salad. This one of Dorie’s is definitely cauliflower-based– the cauliflower this time standing in for bulgur– but there’s room to mess around with ratios, mix-ins and seasonings if you’d like. I stuck pretty much to Dorie’s suggestion of chickpeas, raisins, almonds, mint and parsley mixed into grated cauliflower and tossed up in a lemony dressing. I made a nice big bowl of the stuff, and it was a good lunch for a couple of days.

Dorie recommends tasting the salad after it’s assembled to adjust the seasoning and then letting the salad sit for an hour or more before plating it up. I tasted mine yet again after it rested, as I find I usually like a little fresh lemon squeeze and olive oil drizzle right before serving.

For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan, and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see what we all thought.

Everyday Dorie: Cowboy Caviar (salad or side)

Cowboy Caviar is a fun name for a Southwestern-style bean and veggie salad. I used pinto beans in mine, which I love, but since the beans are the “caviar” here, maybe I should have used black beans instead to really give it that visual effect. The rest is a mix of chopped veggies…things like bell pepper, hot pepper, scallions, tomatoes, avocado and corn kernels. It all gets tossed up with a limey-cumin dressing to make a great salad or side dish, as the title says. I followed Dorie’s suggestion to scoop it up with tortilla chips. Makes me almost want to watch a rodeo.

For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan, and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see all of our “caviars” this week.

Everyday Dorie: Spring Avocado and Berry Salad

This Spring Avocado and Berry Salad is just wow. I really did not expect to like it so much. My past strawberries-in-salad experiences have all pretty much involved limp leaves overdressed in a creamy goop. Bluck– I’ve learned to stay away. But not this one…this one has a balance of sweet and tart (strawberries and citrus), as well as cool and spicy (avocado and jalapeño). There’s no creamy parmesan peppercorn or whatever here. The dressing is a simple citrus vinaigrette. There really aren’t even any leaves, apart from some fresh herbs scattered about. The salad is so pretty, too, with the reds and greens and speckles of pink peppercorn. I’m a strawberry salad convert.

For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan, and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see how the group liked this one.

Everyday Dorie: Tomato and Peach Panzanella

The days are getting shorter and cooler, but it’s still peak tomato season. This Tomato and Peach Panzanella is the perfect way to keep summer around just a wee bit longer. Use whatever bread you want, use peaches or other stone fruit or even melon, choose your favorite herb, make it as salty or as acidic as you like…it’s a use-what-you-like and taste-as-you-go type of thing.

There is a bit of oven time involved with this salad because you need to make croutons. But chunky homemade croutons are so worth it for any salad, and here they’ll soak up all the beautiful juice from the tomatoes and peaches without decomposing into mush. I used what I guess I’d call “French bread” rolls from the restaurant where I work. We always have a bag of day old rolls left over from the previous night’s dinner service and no one minds if I take a few home. I make croutons with them on the regular, in fact. At the greenmarket, I always get a mix of tomatoes– a variety of sizes, from medium to tiny, and all the colors I can find. I like nectarines more than I do peaches, but the peaches have been exceptional this year, I must say, and I used them here.

This was delicious, and I liked the sweetness from the peaches. I had a big batch of croutons, so I made it a couple of times. A little feta was a good add the second time around. I didn’t have any salad left over either time, but I have in the past made too much panzanella…I’ve found that next-day panzanella, when the croutons are a bit too soggy and the tomatoes have spent the night in the fridge, makes fabulous gazpacho whizzed up in the blender. Pro-tip for ya.

For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan (it’s also here), and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see how the group liked this one.