Warm Roasted Vegetable Salad
There are moments when we want a comforting and hearty meal for dinner, yet also recognize that our bellies are craving warm roasted vegetables or a salad. This meal combines the best of both worlds, with a lemony and flavor-packed salad that will leave you feeling full and content. A large enough portion to satisfy your belly, where you won’t need an additional entrée.
Ingredients
- 1 Head of broccoli (broken into small florets)
- ½ cup Extra virgin olive oil (plus an extra ¼ cup for seasoning)
- 2 cloves of garlic (minced)
- 1 shallot (minced)
- Zest of two lemons
- Juice of two lemons
- 4 oz pitted olives (minced)
- 2 oz finely sliced cornichons
- Fresh Ground black pepper (to taste)
- Salt (to taste)
- 1 pinch of cayenne pepper (or more to taste)
Instructions
- Preheat two half sheet pans in 400F oven for 30 mins.
- Separately break down the cauliflower and broccoli into small florets than can fit on a small spoon.
- Coat the cauliflower florets in a bowl with olive oil and add 2-4 tsp of salt to taste.
- Place cauliflower in bowl and reserve. Break down broccoli into small florets and coat with olive oil and season with 2-4 tsp of salt to taste, reserve in separate bowl.
- Remove sheet pans from oven, evenly distribute cauliflower on one, and broccoli on the other.
- Roast in 400F oven for 15 mins, then remove sheet pans and add in your minced garlic to the cauliflower and broccoli and toss on sheet pans to ensure even distribution of garlic and even cooking and continue to cook in 3-minute increments, tossing vegetables every 3 minutes until evenly browned and almost entirely cooked through.
- he whole process should take roughly 22-30 minutes.
- Remove roasted and browned vegetables before they become soft and overcooked and let them cool.
- Cauliflower will generally take longer than the broccoli, depending on how it is cut.
- Mix your roasted vegetables in with your lemon zest, lemon juice, chopped olives, and finely-sliced cornichons.
- Season with salt, freshly ground black pepper, and a pinch of cayenne pepper.
- Add more freshly-squeezed lemon juice if necessary.
Notes
This recipe tastes lovely reheated the next day, although is best being prepared and eaten the same day. Avoid preparing your cauliflower in advance of cooking and leaving covered in the fridge—it will develop an off odor and flavor. If you need to prepare your florets in advance of cooking, keep them cooled overnight in your fridge without an airtight cover or lid. You don’t need to worry about keeping the “salad” warm for service—the roasted vegetables taste amazing even after sitting out of the oven for an hour or two after you have seasoned it. And you can easily scale this recipe up, or down.