Cauliflower, pomegranate and pine nut salad

Visually spectacular and wonderfully wholesome, this Israeli salad teams sweet elements, such as pomegranate and raisins, with savoury partners, like roasted cauliflower and pine nuts.

Credit: Ben Dearnley

• serves

  6

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  50 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1 cauliflower head and leaves, cut into florets
• 60 ml (¼ cup) olive oil
• 1 tbsp zaatar (see Note)
• 1 cup flat-leaf parsley, roughly torn
• 1 cup mint, roughly torn
• 35 g (¼ cup) pine nuts
• ½ pomegranate, seeds removed, plus extra quarters, to serve
• 60 g (⅓ cup) golden raisins (see Note) 

Tahini and lemon dressing

• 60 g (¼ cup) tahini
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp Greek-style yoghurt
• 1 garlic clove, crushed

Instructions

Preheat oven to 200ºC. Combine cauliflower and leaves, oil and zaatar in a large bowl. Transfer to 2 large oven trays lined with baking paper and cook, swapping trays halfway and shaking occasionally, for 50 minutes or until cooked through and charred.

Meanwhile, to make tahini and lemon dressing, whisk all ingredients in a bowl with 50 ml warm water. Season with salt and pepper.

Combine cauliflower with half the herbs. Season, then transfer to a serving bowl and top with dressing, pine nuts, pomegranate, raisins and remaining herbs.

Note

• Zaatar and golden raisins are from select delis and Middle Eastern food shops.

Photography by Ben Dearnley. Food preparation by Phoebe Wood. Styling by Justine Poole.  

As seen in Feast magazine, April 2015, Issue 41.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.