Tuna Laced Cauliflower Salad

• Servings: 1-2
• Time: 45mins
• Difficulty: easy
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Cauliflower is one of those ubiquitous vegetables available all year round and yet I don’t eat enough of it.

Fish is another food I don’t eat as much as I should, specially the oily variety.

I had some tinned tuna lying around in my kitchen cupboard and I was wondering how to pair it up with cauliflower for a main course meal; this is the result.

If you want to try this salad and don’t have canned tuna, adopt my “anything goes” philosophy and use whichever fish you have. Prawns or crab would work just as well. If you are a vegetarian, skip the fish and throw in some cooked lentils instead.

A very lemony, garlicky dressing infuses the right amount of zing to this healthy and satisfying one pot meal.

an ideal mid-week supper dish

Can be enjoyed warm or at room temperature. Make it ahead of time and let the salad dressing flavours get infused into the vegetables for a truly delectable experience.

Ingredients for Salad

1 Small head cauliflower

100 Grams French beans

1 Medium carrot

10-12 Cherry tomato

1 Yellow Pepper

Small bunch spring onion

10-12 Fresh basil leaves

1 Small can tuna (drained weight 110 grams)

10-12 Black olives

Ingredients for Dressing

1 Large head garlic

1 Tablespoon mustard powder

1 Tablespoon cider vinegar

1-2 Tablespoons olive oil

Juice of 2 limes or lemons

1 Teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1-2 Teaspoons jaggery powder (or honey)

Salt to taste

 

Method

1. First, we need to prep the vegetables for salad. Remove tough stalks off the cauliflower. Retain tender leaves and stems. Break florets into medium size pieces with your hands. Roughly chop the heart if tender. Wash, drain and set aside.
2. Scrape and wash the carrot. Slice into thick batons.
3. Top and tail the french beans. Snap into half if very long else leave them whole. Wash, drain and set aside.
4. Wash and halve the cherry tomato.
5. Wash, de-core, de-seed and slice the yellow pepper.
6. Wash and slice the spring onion (white part only).
7. Pit the olives if they have stone in them.
8. Drain the tuna.
9. Wash and pat dry the basil and cauliflower leaves.
10. Steam the cauliflower, carrot and french beans till just cooked. You want them to retain a bite. Use a timer. Once the steam water comes to boil, time for exactly 5 minutes and take off the heat. That should be sufficient.
11. Cool the steamed cauliflower, carrot and french beans.
12. Toss all the salad ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.
13. Next, we make the dressing. Peel and grate the garlic.
14. Juice the lime/lemon.
15. Whisk together the garlic, cider vinegar, olive oil, lime/lemon juice, mustard powder, jaggery powder, freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste.
16. Pour the dressing over the salad, mix well, cover tightly and let the flavours infuse.

Note:

1. This is the first time I tried powdered jaggery in salad dressing and the result was a hint of smokey sweetness (I used organic jaggery). You can substitute jaggery with honey or a pinch of brown sugar.