Justine Cooks: Cauliflower with Coconut Dressing & Fresno Almonds

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Every once in a while, my dad-in-law stumbles upon an offer of red meat he cannot resist. That sometimes result in a somewhat spontaneous (as in: planned within a week or so) dinner - they bring the meat, we provide the BBQ and some sides. Couldn't let the opportunity of trying yet another one of Justines recipes pass me by. I leafed through the book, suddenly realizing that the majority of her salad recipes are made of cooked or baked vegetables, and somehow hit my autumn/winter spot, more than the summer equivalent. I am definitely on team 'cooked salads' AND team 'a salad can be a meal' - but a lot of the recipes suddenly seemed well - wintry. Which might not be entirely fair, because there are Tempura-fried Asparagus with Buttermilk Dressing, A Garden Salad to Make You Love Garden Salads and Basil Cucumbers with Slightly Sweet Peanuts also available - but on certain days, I have to take the people I feed into account as well, and I wasn't sure any of those would hit home. But then this one popped up: Cauliflower, cherries, almonds, a light coconutty dressing... And admittedly, I may have forgotten my audience for a short while, because fruits in salads is not my Husbands favorite, and neither is cauliflower, but eh - off I went!

So cauliflower, baked until slightly charred, dressed with a dressing made of coconut milk, herbs, lime, as well as with a chili-infused oil/sliced almond affair, served with cherries and more herbs. The flavour-combo had me intrigued. 

I liked it. It wasn't the slap-in-your-face-flavour-explosion I'd expected, it was just - alright. The coconut-lime dressing on it's own had a vibe I really liked, but I'm not sure anything was won by combining it with the rest of the ingredients. Also found that there was a lot of bowls and pans used, and somwhow, things were a little fiddly? Half of this here, half of this there, this goes on a pan in the oven, this goes on a pan on the stove... Maybe I'm just not used to following recipes to a T!

Full disclosure: I had no Fresno peppers available, so used a common green chili (a Dutch-type, I think?)

Would I make it again? Maybe the dressing, for something else. The combination was perfectly edible and different (and not different in a bad way!), but I'm not sure I'd make it as is again. 


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