Here’s a spicy salad that is great on its own as a light lunch or perfect served alongside crispy pork belly or griddled salmon. The ingredients are seasonal and delicious.
I found it on Free Spirit Food and adapted it slightly. Shanthini uses baby spinach (I used endive) and adds coriander and mint as a garnish (which I avoided as I think those flavours would clash with the slightly bitter quality of the endives).
Blood oranges are very seasonal and pretty on the plate but of course any orange would work well.
For 4 people as a side or two as a main you’ll need:
About half a cauliflower
An onion
2 cloves or garlic
1 or 2 chillis (depending upon how hot you like it)
A blood orange (normal orange would be fine of course)
A couple of bulbs of endive
Flaked almonds
Ground cumin
Olive oil
Salt & pepper
Method:
Divide the cauliflower into florets, put in a roasting dish, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle over ground cumin (about a teaspoon) and sea salt flakes. Cook in the oven at 180°C fan until golden and tender.
While the cauliflower is cooking gently fry the onion (finely sliced) along with the finely chopped garlic and sliced chilli in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Keep the heat low, you’re looking to soften and caramelise them.
Pick the leaves off the endive and place prettily on a round plate. Peel the blood orange and remove the segments using a sharp knife (keep any juices that run and squeeze whatever is left). Place the segments in the endive leaves.
Toast the almonds in a dry frying pan until golden then put to one side.
Mix the cauliflower with the onion mixture and place in the middle of the plate. Pour any orange juice over the dish and drizzle with good olive oil. Sprinkle a few sea salt flakes to garnish and the flaked almonds.
Pair this with a demi sec Chenin blanc for a match made in heaven!
Bon appetit!
