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This delicious roasted cauliflower salad makes a great side dish, lunch or light summer dinner. It’s drizzled with a nicely sharp and intense lemon Dijon dressing and is served with buttery and smoky tarragon grilled baguette slices on the side.
How to make roasted cauliflower salad:
We start with the cauliflower here. You want to cut off the individual florets and try to get them more or less uniform in size so they roast evenly.
Next you toss the florets with vegetable oil, garlic salt and fresh pepper and spread them out onto a baking sheet in a single layer. Into a 350-degree oven they go and about an hour later the cauliflower is ready.
While the cauliflower is in the oven, you can prep the tarragon grilled bread. First you mash finely chopped fresh tarragon together with softened butter and season with a bit of salt. You spread the butter onto your baguette slices (both sides) and when you have about 15 minutes left on the cauliflower, toss the slices on a grill or a grill pan and grill them nice and smoky.
The dressing takes no more than a minute to put together, you just whisk Dijon mustard and lemon juice together, then drizzle in your olive oil and season with salt and pepper. If the dressing separates, don’t worry about that, it will still taste wonderful!
Tips to make roasted cauliflower salad:
If you have a silicone baking mat, I recommend you use it to line the baking sheet when roasting the cauliflower. You can put the cauliflower florets directly on the baking sheet but they roast a little more evenly with the baking mat, in my experience.
More delicious salads:
- Mediterranean Chicken Salad
- Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad
- Dolmas Salad with Roasted Cauliflower Rice
- Baked Goat Cheese Salad
- Mango, Basil and Tomato Salad
- Chicken Salad
- Roasted Pepper and Corn Salad with Goat Cheese Dressing
- Sesame Salmon Salad
- Meatball Salad
Roasted Cauliflower Salad
Ingredients:
For the cauliflower:
- 1 head of cauliflower, cut into individual florets
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
- black pepper
For the tarragon grilled bread:
- 8 slices baguette
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh tarragon
- salt
For the dressing:
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions:
For the cauliflower:
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Toss cauliflower florets with oil, garlic salt and pepper and spread out either directly onto a baking sheet or onto a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat. (It will work either way but the silicone mat works slightly better in my experience; the florets roast a little more evenly with the mat).
- Roast cauliflower until tender and browned on the edges (about one hour). Move the florets around on the baking sheet halfway through.
For the tarragon grilled bread:
- Mash butter and tarragon together with a fork, then season with salt.
- Spread the butter on the baguette slices (onto both sides) and grill on both sides on a grill or a grill pan.
For the dressing:
- Whisk mustard and lemon juice together.
- In a slow stream, whisk in the olive oil, then season with salt and pepper.
- Serve the cauliflower warm and drizzle the dressing on right before serving.
Nutrition
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Nicole, I just love the simplicity of this cauliflower salad! The dressing is the perfect complement. And that tarragon toast looks amazing!
Thank you, Kelly! Indeed, it is such a simple dish but so yummy, I made it again yesterday. :)
You can do no wrong with roasted cauliflower as far as I’m concerned, and I just love this simple, bright, and clean preparation that really lets it shine. Delicious!
Thank you so much, Hannah! I agree, I love roasted cauliflower and I think it’s really underrated. :)