Cypriot salad with pink pickled cauliflower

Servings:

Cauliflower’s mildness means it happily soaks up whatever flavours you fancy. The more you throw at it, the more interesting it becomes. Applying heat brings out its salted caramel sweetness; pickling, its juicy crunch. The cauli takes on colour very easily, too, which is why a few wedges of beetroot turn this pickle into glittering garnets like jewels in the crown. Once you get the hang of hot-pickling, make your own turnips for shawarma or daikon batons for salady crunch. You’ll find cracked burghul in the health food aisle or bulk wholefood stores, or to go gluten-free use brown rice, puy lentils or quinoa instead. Make this salad fully plant-based by holding the yoghurt in the dressing and subbing in almond feta or another kind of creamy nut cheese. You can buy pomegranate seeds, or just cut a pomegranate in half and smack its bottom with a wooden spoon over a bowl and watch the garnet gems fly out. Keep leftover seeds on damp paper towel in the fridge to use in other dishes.

Instructions

To make the pickled pink cauliflower, put 3 cups (750 ml) of water into a large saucepan with the vinegar, sugar and spices and bring to a steady boil. Chop cauliflower half into small florets and put it in a heatproof bowl with the beetroot and bay leaves, then carefully pour the boiling pickling liquid over the veg to cover, making sure all of the vegetables are submerged by placing a clean saucer on top. Leave on the bench to cool and soak up the pink hue. This can be done a day in advance, or longer, if you pickle into sterilised jars.
Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F) or 180°C (350°F) fan forced. Line a large baking tray with baking paper and spread the nut and seed mix on the tray. Pop it in the oven, setting the timer for 10 minutes. Check the nuts and seeds, giving them a shimmy if they need a little longer to colour, or pulling them out at this point. Transfer to a small heatproof bowl and set aside to cool, keeping the lined tray for the cauli to come.
Break the remaining cauliflower half into small florets, trim the stalk and cut into small fork-sized chunks. Put the cauliflower in a bowl with chickpeas, onion, olive oil, cumin seeds, salt and pepper and toss to coat.
Scatter the bowl of cauli and bits over the baking tray and roast for 30 minutes or until the cauliflower is golden and onion is softened and gnarly on the tips.
While the cauli mix is roasting, pop the burghul in a large heatproof bowl, pour the boiling water over it and cover with
a plate. Set aside to soak for 10 minutes, then drizzle with extra olive oil and fluff with a fork.
To make the garlicky yoghurt dressing, put all of the ingredients together in a blender and whizz to emulsify. Check for stray chunks of garlic, scrape down the side, and give it another blitz.
When ready to serve, toss the burghul, nuts and seeds, herbs and half the dressing together in a bowl and arrange on your favourite flat serving platter or shallow salad bowl. Tumble the roasted cauli mix over, as well as the pickled cauli. Drizzle with the remaining dressing to serve.