This Mediterranean Cauliflower Salad is inspired by Sicily's bold, bright, acidic, sweet and balanced flavors. Simple oven roasted cauliflower is tossed with a tasty vinaigrette that's made with dried currants, capers, parsley, lemon, garlic and honey. I like to add feta and orange zest on top because I love cheese way too much.
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After we sold out of our Bali trips in under 5 minute (honestly still in Shock!) we began brainstorming our next group trip to Italy!
And with that became the flood of tasty Italian recipes that I've been dreaming about.
This Mediterrranean Cauliflower Salad is inspired by Sicily's famous cauliflower dish that's loaded with raisins, capers (or olives), fresh herbs, lemon and orange.
It's sweet, savory, briny and fresh and it's one of my favorite recipes to make!
For this recipe, I took that inspiration and changed it up a bit by adding feta cheese.
Because if you don't know already, I am unapologetically in love with cheese!
So let's get to it shall we?!
Ingredients & Substituions
(scroll to the bottom for the exact measurements & printable recipe card)
- Cauliflower - No real sub here since this is the star of the dish!
- Olive Oil - This is a must because it's Mediterranean influenced but I guess you could use avocado oil if you didn't have olive oil!
- Dried Currants - Golden raisins could also be used!
- Capers - Chopped pitted olives work great in place of capers.
- Parsley - I think parsley is best but you could also use cilantro or basil for a different spin.
- Lemon Juice - Red wine vinegar or white wine vinegar could work here.
- Garlic Paste - this works best so you don't get any large chunks of garlic but if you don't have paste, you could super finely minced regular fresh garlic.
- Feta - This is totally optional but I highly recommend it!
- Orange Zest - You could also just use the zest from the lemon if you didn't have an orange!
How to make Mediterranean Cauliflower Salad
Making this Mediterranean Caulflower Salad begins by roasting cauliflower in the simplest way possible.
Start by preheating your oven to 425F degrees.
Next, chop up a whole head of cauliflower into smaller florets and drizzle with olive oil and two hefty pinches of salt.
Toss everything together and throw it in the oven for 20 minutes or until the bottoms of each floret are golden brown.
While that's cooking, grab a small bowl.
Add the dried currants, capers, parsley, garlic paste, honey, lemon juice and olive oil.
Stir everything together and set aside.
Once the cauliflower is done roasting, remove the baking dish from the oven and set it on your counter.
Pour the caper vinaigrette right on top of the cooked cauliflower and toss everything together so the hot cauliflower can absorb the sauce.
Now plate the cauliflower and finish with crumbled feta and freshly grated orange zest.
Serve immediately while hot or even at room temp.
What to pair it with
When I shot this recipe, I ended up making this Mediterranean Chicken Meatballs to go with it and they're SO GOOD!
You could also pair it with this olive oil and lemon couscous and some roasted broccoli with an herby tahini garlic sauce.
Or these pita fries with tzatziki with this chicken shawarma plate,
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Recipe:
Recipe
Mediterranean Cauliflower Salad
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup dried currants
- ¼ cup capers
- 1 lemon juiced
- ½ teaspoon garlic paste
- 1 tablespoon honey
- ½ cup parsley
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 oz feta cheese
- 1 orange zested
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F degrees.
- Cut up 1 head of cauliflower into medium bite-sized florets.
- Place cauliflower on a large baking sheet and add 2 tablespoon of olive oil and ½ teaspoon salt.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until the bottoms of the florets are golden brown.
- Meanwhile, add ½ cup dried currants, ¼ cup capers, the juice from 1 lemon, ½ teaspoon garlic paste, 1 tablespoon honey, ½ cup parsley and olive oil to a bowl and mix.
- Once cauliflower is done, remove it from the oven and immediately add the caper vinaigrette on top and toss.
- Once plated, top with 3 oz crumbled feta cheese and the zest from 1 orange.
- Serve immediately or at room temp.
