the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Curried Roasted Sweet Potato and Cauliflower Salad

Like many (if not most) of you, we’ve been looking forward to a turn toward the summer season for a host of reasons this year, given the bizarre journey we’ve all been on for the past three months. Not to mention the simple fact that we all love the fun the summer season brings.

Astrological summer of course doesn’t being for another three weeks, though count me among those who sort of spiritually look at Memorial Day as the advent of summer. During all the time we lived and worked in Montana, as often as not it snowed sometime the last week of May, often in town but almost always in the high country. We’d chuckle at relatives down in Texas complaining of the early advent of summer’s heat, though now that we’re down in North Texas as I write this, with a forecast week of temps pushing 90 or better on the docket, the arrival of summer seems all the more real.

We love the summer (year round really) grilling season around our camp, and are almost always looking for great salads to accompany our favorite proteins off the grill.

I’ve been playing off and on with a roasted sweet potato and cauliflower salad for a few years now; we’ve found several flavor combinations that we resonate with, but I have to admit, I’m not a huge fan of roasted and cooled cauliflower from a texture perspective. (Texture matters.)

We have a couple of raw cauliflower salads we often reach for, including this long time family favorite, so recently I stole a page from that recipe and left the cauliflower raw but roasted the sweet potatoes in this Curried Roasted Sweet Potato and Cauliflower Salad, adding in a healthy handful of roasted red peppers, crunchy celery, and red onion, along with a Southwestern themed spice array + good curry.

Leaving the cauliflower raw adds a delightful crunch, as does the celery, and crisp roasting (in a pan) the sweet potatoes adds a bit of caramelization to the equation too. This salad, like any and all you make at home, can be customized to suit your family’s tastes – for instance, in making this batch, my lovely wife had forgotten to grab a red onion on her last shopping excursion, so I just added a sweet onion (Vidalia’s are in!) instead. Next time around, I’ll probably add a tablespoon or two of capers as well….

If your schedule allows, make this an hour or more ahead of time to let the flavors meld, and my clan thinks it’s even better the next day.

1 and 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1 and 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
1 and 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp good curry powder
1/4 to 1/2 tsp cayenne powder

4 cups cauliflower florets, cut into 3/4-inch pieces if needed
2 medium sweet potatoes, trimmed, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1 cup roasted red peppers, well-drained, diced
3/4 cup celery, including tender leaves, thinly sliced
1/2 small red onion, trimmed, julienned
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1/3 cup avocado oil mayo
1/3 cup full fat Greek yogurt
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
Good salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Garnishes: 2-3 green onions thinly sliced, more chopped cilantro, more diced red pepper

Trim and cut the sweet potatoes to size, then sauté over medium-high in avocado oil until browned and beginning to caramelize around the edges. Set aside to cool.

In a clean, dry small skillet over medium heat, toast the three seeds until fragrant (keep them moving in the pan). Transfer carefully to a spice grinder and grind to a fine powder. Transfer to a small dish with the curry and cayenne powders.

Into a large bowl go the toasted spices, diced peppers, celery, onion, cilantro, lemon zest and juice, mayo, yogurt, salt, and pepper; stir to combine well, then add the potatoes and cauliflower and stir until evenly coated. Taste and adjust for salt, pepper, and curry.

Transfer to a serving bowl if desired and garnish using any and/or all of the garnishes.

Enjoy.