Friday 9 May 2008

Warm cauliflower, egg and anchovy salad


Here's what I did with half the cauliflower in my veg box. Normally my first thought would be cauliflower cheese but the weather's so warm and balmy I fancied a salad instead.

Serves 2

2 large eggs
1 medium-sized cauliflower, trimmed and cut into florets
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 bunch of spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced or a small onion, peeled and chopped
1 x 50g tin of anchovy fillets
1 tbsp capers, rinsed and chopped
2 tbsp finely chopped parsley + a little extra for decoration
1 tbsp red or white wine vinegar
Salt and pepper

Hard boil the eggs for 10 minutes, drain and leave in their shells in cold water. Steam or microwave the cauliflower until just tender (about 7-8 minutes). Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over a low to moderate heat and fry the spring onions for a couple of minutes until softened. Take off the heat and mix in roughly half the steamed cauliflower. Drain the anchovies (reserving the oil which is good for drizzling over pizzas) and chop half the fillets finely. Shell and chop one of the eggs. Tip the anchovies, eggs, capers and parsley into the cauliflower together with the vinegar, toss together and season lightly with salt and pepper (go easy on the salt because of the anchovies). Tip the salad onto a serving plate or divide between two plates. Shell and quarter the remaining egg and arrange over the salad along with the remaining anchovies. Scatter over a little more parsley and serve with some crusty bread or new potatoes.

If you don't like anchovies or not quite as much as we like them you could save the other half of the tin for topping a pizza or adding to a pasta sauce. The leftover cauliflower will make the base for a curry - as would any leftover potatoes.

No comments:

UA-3466976-1