Cauliflower, Pear and Walnut Salad

This cauliflower, pear and walnut salad is hands down the perfect side salad during this festive season. It’s incredibly flavourful and includes lots of festive ingredients such as caramelised walnuts, pear, cranberries and spices such as cinnamon. Although these ingredients, especially the cranberries, definitely remind me of Christmas festivities, this salad could easily become an all-year-round kind of salad too. It’s delicious and surprisingly easy to make.

The cauliflower acts as the base of the salad while the caramelised walnuts and cranberries add some sweetness. To balance the sweetness, I added pickled red onions into the salad. Not only do they give the salad a little more acidity, but the red onions also add some extra colour. Finally, the salad is finished off with fresh mint leaves and orange zest which give it freshness and a beautiful floral aroma too.

If you’re into creative, flavourful and delicious salad, check out some of my other salad recipes!

• Tomato-Avocado-Peach Salad
• Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Crispy Black Beans
• Chickpea Panzanella

I hope you love this Cauliflower, Pear and Walnut Salad as much as I do. Please let me know what you think in the comments and don’t forget to tag me on Instagram @nothangryanymore in your creations. I love seeing them!

Annick

Cauliflower, Pear and Walnut Salad

Annick

Flavourful and balanced salad. The perfect festive side dish.

5 from 4 votes

(Click on the stars to vote!)

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 35 minutes mins

Total Time 50 minutes mins

Course Lunch, Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine modern, vegan

Servings 6 people (as a side dish) // 3 as a main

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

  

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Pickled Onion

• 1 small red onion
• 1 tbsp raw sugar (about 15g)
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar (about 35g)
• 3 tbsp water (about 50g)
• 1/2 tsp black pepper corns

Roasted Cauliflower

• 1 medium cauliflower (about 720g)
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 pinch salt
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Caramelised Walnuts

• 50 g walnuts
• 1/2 tbsp orange juice
• 1 tsp golden syrup (or rice malt syrup)

Other ingredients

• 1 pear
• 25 g dried cranberries
• 1 handful fresh mint leaves
• zest from 1/2 orange
• 1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

 

Pickled Onions

• Thinly slice the onions and place them into a heat proof container or bowl.
• Add the raw sugar, apple cider vinegar, water and pepper to a pot and bring to the boil. Once the sugar has dissolved, pour the pickling liquid over the onions.
• Place the container into the fridge and let the onions pickle while preparing the rest of the salad.

Roasted Cauliflower

• Preheat the oven to 180°C fan.
• Cut the cauliflower into bite-size florets and put them into a big bowl.

  (I like to use the same bowl that I serve the finished salad in.)
• Add olive oil, salt, ground cumin and ground cinnamon and mix until the cauliflower is evenly coated.
• Place the cauliflower onto a baking tray lined with baking paper and roast for 35 minutes at 180°C fan.

Caramelised Walnuts

• Add the walnuts into a small bowl and add the orange juice and golden syrup. Mix until the walnuts are thoroughly coated.
• Toast the walnuts in the oven at 180°C fan for 10 minutes.

  (The walnuts can be toasted at the same time the cauliflower is roasted.)

Final Touches

• Add the roasted cauliflower, pickled onions and caramlised walnuts into a large salad bowl.
• Slice the pear and add it to the bowl together with dried cranberries and a handful of fresh mint.
• Finally add the zest of ½ orange and olive oil. Give the salad a mix and season with salt to taste. Enjoy!

Keyword cauliflower, christmas, cranberries, festive, pear, red onion, walnut

Nutrition Facts

Cauliflower, Pear and Walnut Salad

Amount Per Serving (225 g)

Calories 216 Calories from Fat 137

% Daily Value*

Fat 15.2g23%

Saturated Fat 1.9g12%

Trans Fat 0.01g

Polyunsaturated Fat 5.2g

Monounsaturated Fat 7.4g

Cholesterol 0mg0%

Sodium 76.8mg3%

Potassium 306.5mg9%

Carbohydrates 19.7g7%

Fiber 5.3g22%

Sugar 12.7g14%

Protein 4.2g8%

Vitamin A 45.5IU1%

Vitamin C 64.1mg78%

Calcium 42.1mg4%

Iron 1mg6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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