This Purple Cauliflower Salad is as delicious as it is stunning! Made with roasted cauliflower, kalamata olives, capers, fresh herbs, and a grain of choice, topped with pickled red onions. Add Marcona almonds or shaved pecorino to add richness, or keep it vegan! Either way, you’ll love the Sicilian flavors in this recipe!
I stumbled on the most beautiful purple cauliflower at the farmer’s market the other day. I still marvel at how nature produces such remarkable hues; it’s incredible, really. Anyways, this is what became of the purple cauliflower, and as I type, I’m munching on the leftovers. So tasty! Know that you can make this salad with regular white cauliflower, or even a pink one – whatever strikes your fancy. The Sicilian flavors are so punchy and flavorful, it’s perfect for healthy mid-week meals or entertaining!
Why you’ll love this Purple Cauliflower Salad
- It’s beautiful! It’s a fun way to highlight purple cauliflower, and a pure joy to make. The Sicilian flavors truly delight the palate.
- It’s Adaptable. Make it vegan, or add pecorino cheese for richness. Use whatever grain you like- or leave out the grains- up to you.
- It’s healthy and delicious. Cauliflower is such a superfood, as it is, but purple cauliflower adds a whole other level of polyphenols.
Purple Cauliflower Salad Ingredients
- Purple Cauliflower, or sub white cauliflower
- Extra virgin Olive oil
- Cooked grain- black rice, quinoa, freekah, farro, etc….
- Green onions – white and green parts
- kalamata olives -buy them pitted, and slice them
- Capers-for punchy flavor
- Italian parsley – for its herby flavor and beautiful color. Or sub basil.
- Lemon Zest – for brightness.
- Salt and Pepper
- Red wine vinegar
- Garlic cloves – fresh garlic, finely minced.
Optional Garnishes: Pickled onions, marcona almonds, chili flakes, shaved pecorino
How to make Purple Cauliflower Salad
Roast the cauliflower and cook your grain of choice.
Today I picked black rice, but feel free to use quinoa, farro, freekah, wheat berries, wild rice… anything you like!
Once the cauliflower is roasted and the grain is cooked, you can toss everything into a big bowl along with the dressing, or you can layer the salad as I do here for a pretty presentation, to show off the cauliflower – perfect if taking to a potluck or gathering.
Layer the cooked grain on the bottom. Add the roasted purple cauliflower, olives, capers.
Sprinkle with the scallions and herbs.
Add the pickled red onions, and spoon the dressing over top!
Toss right before serving.
Serving Suggestions
Serve with Grilled Lemon Herb Chicken, Lemon Garlic Shrimp Pasta, Cacio e Pepe, or Lemon Pasta!
Storage
Leftovers will keep up to 4 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Go visit your local farmer’s market, find the purple cauliflower of your dreams, and give this Purple Cauliflower Salad a try this week! Hope you are having a joyful week. xoxo Sylvia
More Favorite Cauliflower Recipes
- Roasted Cauliflower Salad
- Shaved Cauliflower Salad w/ Yogurt Dressing
- Crispy Cauliflower with Tahini Yogurt
- Chili Crisp Cauliflower
- 31+ Mouthwatering Cauliflower Recipes
- Moroccan Cauliflower Chickpea Bowls
Purple Cauliflower Salad- Sicilian Style
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 6
- Category: salad, vegan salad
- Method: roasted
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Purple Cauliflower Salad (Sicilian Style!) with kalamata olives, capers, grains parsley scallions and pickled onions. This vegan healthy salad is easy to make and keeps for several days, perfect for meal prep!
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower, purple if possible
- olive oil to coat
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- zest of one lemon
- -----
- 2 cups cooked grain- black rice, quinoa, freekah, farro, (or sub another 2 cups of cauliflower)
- 2 scallions, sliced
- 1/2 cup sliced kalamata olives
- 2 tablespoons capers
- 1/2 cup Italian parsley, chopped
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F
- Set grains to cook on the stove. Cook and cool to room temp.
- Cut cauliflower into bite-sized florets, lightly toss in olive oil, salt and lemon zest. Spread out on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Roast 25 minutes, or until fork-tender, turning halfway through. Let cool.
- Make the dressing, whisking all in a bowl.
- Feel free to toss salad ingredients the dressing in a bowl or layer them in a shallow bowl. If layering, start wth the grain, add the cauliflower, olives, capers, scallions, parsley, pickled onions, optional almonds/pecorino and sprinkle with chili flakes.
Notes
Store in the fridge for up to 4 days in an airtight container.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 216
- Sugar: 2 g
- Sodium: 570.9 mg
- Fat: 13.8 g
- Saturated Fat: 2.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 21.8 g
- Fiber: 3.8 g
- Protein: 3.8 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
My husband just told me that this was the best thing I have made in quite a long time…
I’m not sure whether to be offended or not, so I said, “credit to my gal Sylvia”, and he nodded with air of understanding and satisfaction.
This was absolutely delicious and thank you for another amazing meal!
Haha Devon, perhaps, like my husband, his memory is short? So happy you enjoyed this one. Appreciate your review. 🙂
We grew a purple cauliflower in our garden!! It was beautiful but I had no idea what to do with it, until I came upon your recipe. We have a new baby at home so I’ve also been trying to incorporate more barley and brown rice into my diet and barley worked great in this and I’m sure brown rice would too. I had some probiotic lemon olives instead of kalamata and they added a nice touch. I also added the young tender leaves from around the cauliflower to the salad as well as all the little crumbles/rice that are left on the cutting board after cutting into florets went in the salad raw. The juxtaposition of the bright purple incredibly fresh and sweet raw cauliflower and the deeper purple rich roasted florets was incredible. I omitted salt completely until serving and it was the hit of our bbq!! I wish I could add pictures here…Thanks for the recipe, your website is a great find.
THanks Amber- so happy you enjoyed this!
Oh yeah, baby! ThIs was incredible. Too bad I can’t give more than 5 stars.
Glad you enjoyed this!
This is beyond fabulous. One of the best recipes of yours that I’ve tasted and that’s a high bar. Thank you so much!
thanks Lara!
Beautiful AND delicious! And my kid liked it so bonus. 🙂
My family (with kids 7 and 9) really loved this. Added all the extras listed above. Used quinoa and a large head of cauliflower. Husband added aleppo pepper. We’ll be making it again.
This is our new household favorite! We made it with black rice and threw in some sun-dried tomatoes for good measure and it was absolutely delicious.
Excellent salad- made it with regular white cauliflower as I cant find purple where I live. Flavors were stunning.
Eating the leftovers for lunch today and have to say, this just made my whole day. It gets even better as it sits. Awesome recipe!
Made this last weekend and it was a huge hit. So beautiful and delicious! Such an easy recipe- thanks!