Peace on a Plate

Feeling a bit overwhelmed this February? This simple Roasted Cauliflower Salad will soothe your soul.

Photo by Leah Lizarondo
 

It’s only February, too early in the new year to find myself falling into the busy trap. I’m reminded of an article I read in The New York Times about this “condition” that has affected our population to epidemic proportions.

“Crazy busy.”

“OMG so much to do.”

We live in this frenetic pace, moving from one task to the next and on every interval, marveling at how busy we are. We get anxious that if we don’t keep ticking things off the to-do list, we will fall apart.

In fact, it has gotten so bad that research in the past year has shown that Americans are leaving up to 70 percent of their vacation time unused. But the author, Tim Kreider, reminds us, “Idleness is not just a vacation, an indulgence or a vice; it is as indispensable to the brain as vitamin D is to the body, and deprived of it we suffer a mental affliction as disfiguring as rickets. The space and quiet that idleness provides is a necessary condition for standing back from life and seeing it whole, for making unexpected connections and waiting for the wild summer lightning strikes of inspiration — it is, paradoxically, necessary to getting any work done.”

So. I am taking a deep breath. And weaning myself off of my Evernote entanglement.

I’m taking a little quiet time to recalibrate. And I find this salad to be exactly what I need.

This salad is peace on a plate. There is something grounding about the cauliflower — shaped like a wintry tree — that makes you feel rooted. Still. Calm.

So here it is.

A salad. Composed. Of a tree. And Greens and the Good Things That Come With It.

Buttery, creamy cauliflower, roasted to caramelized sweetness.

You need nothing more.

  Roasted Cauliflower Salad with Arugula and Cranberries

Yield: Serves 4

• 1 head cauliflower (large)
• Olive oil spray to coat the pan and the cauliflower
• Sea Salt
• Pepper
• 4 cups baby arugula leaves
• 4 tablespoons dried cranberries
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 tablespoons lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Slice the cauliflower from top to bottom – getting a cross-section – in about ½ inch slices. (Chop the remaining florets and save for later use or you can roast them along with the slices).

2. Spray a baking sheet with olive oil and spray the cauliflower slices. Lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast one side for 15 minutes or until brown and the other side for another 15 minutes or until brown and caramelized.

3. Layer arugula on a plate, place the cauliflower on the bed of arugula and sprinkle with cranberries.

4. Whisk the olive oil and lemon juice in a small bowl.

5. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle the dressing over the salad.