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Baked Cauliflower Salad with Feta and Dates

5 from 6 votes
This cauliflower salad is a combination of warm and roasty, as well as crisp and fresh. It's the perfect marriage of salty, sweet, herbaceous and just plain good. It uses a whole cauliflower head to start, then adds on fresh peas, radishes, dates, basil and mint, as well as some salty feta. The combination is truly out-of-this world and absolutely worth the effort. It just might be your new favorite salad.
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Prep Time:20 minutes
Cook Time:1 hour
Course: Main Course, Salad
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Keyword: baked, cauliflower, dates, radishes, salad, spring peas, tahini
Servings: 4 servings

Equipment

  • 1 Baking sheet
  • 1 chef's knife
  • 1 small blender optional

Ingredients

For the roasted cauliflower head

  • 1 head cauliflower
  • 2-3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/3 cup tahini
  • 1/3 cup fresh parsley
  • 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice about the juice of 1/2 of a lemon
  • 1/4 cup water
  • Kosher salt

For the date and feta salad

  • 1 cup sugar snap peas thinly sliced
  • 1 cup radishes thinly sliced
  • 1/4 cup fresh basil chiffonade cut
  • 1/4 cup fresh mint chiffonade cut
  • 2/3 cup pitted medjool dates roughly chopped
  • 2/3 cup Athenos feta cheese crumbled
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice about 1/2 of a lemon
  • 1/2 tsp sumac optional, but really delicious
  • Extra-virgin olive oil
  • Kosher salt

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 375°F.
  • Put the cauliflower top-down on a cutting board. Remove all the rough green bottom stems and cut out the rough bottom stem core. Flip it over and place on a baking sheet.
  • Drizzle the cauliflower with a liberal amount of olive oil and rub to coat it. Sprinkle with salt. Cover the cauliflower with foil and roast for 30 minutes. Uncover and roast another 35-45 minutes, or until the cauliflower is a deep golden brown on top.
  • While the cauliflower is roasting, prepare the tahini drizzle. Add the tahini, parsley, red pepper, garlic, lemon juice and water to a blender. Add a pinch of salt and blend until smooth, but still with a few flecks of green throughout. Add more water as needed to get to a "drizzly" texture. Season with salt as needed.
  • To make the feta and date salad, grab a large bowl. Toss in the sliced peas, radishes, basil, mint, dates and feta. Toss to combine and add a squeeze of lemon juice, the sumac and a large pinch of salt. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and taste. Add lemon juice and salt as you prefer. Set aside.
  • When the cauliflower is out of the oven, pour the tahini drizzle right on top. Slice it into 4 large pieces and add each to their own bowl. Pile a large serving of the feta & date salad next to each. Enjoy as soon as you can!

Notes

I like to serving this with flatbreads for scooping and dipping. You can also pair this with crispy tofu or chickpea crumbles for protein! Both recipes can be found on this blog.