Although our Dinner in White has come and gone, this salad endures. And no, by that I don’t mean that I have week-old leftovers in my fridge. (I mean, I might, but let’s not speak of that.) I mean that I already had to make this salad again, and I am looking forward to having it on our table often throughout the winter. Along with that smoky cauliflower frittata, of course, and the cheddar and dijon cauliflower soup and that whole roasted cauliflower and…I might almost be looking forward to fall.
Unlike most of the recipes I post here, let me warn you, this one takes an hour. An hour! But it’s mostly hands-off time in the oven, and it’s worth it. The cauliflower emerges limp and tender, the chickpeas crisp-edged and meaty. The pine nuts add crunch and the raisins sweetness and the whole thing will leave you actually happy that it’s cool enough to turn your oven on for an hour. We most recently ate this dish with a grated carrot salad, baked orzo with tomatoes, and a piece of grilled fish. It was certainly a feast befitting the harvest season.
Roasted Cauliflower and Chickpea Salad: Cut a head of cauliflower into florets (save those leaves for cauliflower chips!), toss with olive oil and salt, and roast at 400 until the cauliflower begins to brown, about 20 mins. Add 2 c. drained canned or cooked chickpeas with another pinch of salt and continue to roast for 20 more minutes. Add a big handful or two of pine nuts and roast 20 final minutes, adding a few handfuls of golden (or not golden) raisins for the last 5 minutes in the oven. Add a big handful of parsley plus a drizzle of good olive oil and additional salt to taste. Toss well before serving warm or at room temperature.
Emmy Cooks 
I like the idea of combining cauliflower and chickpeas!
It’s so good! I like both the textures and the flavors together.
That salad sounds like an ingredient match made in heaven! It’s totally going down in the kitchen soon!
I noticed you started using WordAds, do you have any control over the type of content they advertise on your site?
p.s. I broke up with Good Clean Food and got my own gig:
http://www.vedgedout.com
Welcome to your new blog! How fun. And now I have two great blogs to read instead of just one! :)
I do have WordAds on my site, but I haven’t paid much attention to them because they don’t show up for me in Firefox, which is the browser I use. (Which reminds me that I probably should check more often to see what ads are running!) When they first started running, though, I saw a couple mobile ads that were rather distasteful, and my WordAds contact was very responsive and took them right down. I hope that answers your question–feel free to email me at emmycooksblog at gmail dot com if I can answer any other questions. (Like how much money have I made from the ads? Um, veeeeery little.) :)
Oh thanks so much Emmy! I’ll email you if I have more questions!
This salad speaks to me. The sweet bite of the raisins with the roasted veggies…mmmmm.
Exactly. So good. I always love a sweet-and-savory flavor combination.
YUMMMY! And how did I miss the cauliflower chips?! Thanks so much. I have some cauliflower growing, and I try to use the leaves, but was needing a new way to do it.
A perfect recipe! I love raisins with roasted cauliflower, and the addition of chick peas is so inspired … your description of them getting crisp-edged and meaty has me anxiously consulting my pantry to see if I can make this a go tonight! :)
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This sounds so healthy and delicious!
Love this one, Emmy! I had to roast an additional 20 minutes (I didn’t dry my chickpeas enough and they started steaming) but then everything crisped up nicely. I had half a pomegranate leftover, so I scattered pomegranate seeds in place of the raisins. This was a hit with everyone! :)
I just made a version of this today – it was great! I didn’t have that many pinenuts in the house so I used a mix of walnuts and pinenuts. It worked really well.
Thanks!
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