There’s this “fast casual” Los Angeles restaurant Lemonade, which now has a few locations. They celebrate a very Southern California style cuisine with eclectic fresh flavors. They have several dishes that I really love so I’ve been working through their new cookbook a bit. Unfortunately, the recipes I’ve made directly out of the book don’t really live up to the dishes at the restaurant (maybe their keeping a few secrets to themselves) so I’ve been trying to tweak them to get closer to what I eat at the restaurant. This particular recipe was pretty true so I only made small modifications to intensify the flavors.
Cauliflower can be a tough one, lacking much flavor unto itself, it gets a lot of help from roasting and then tossing with a flavorful vinaigrette. This is my interpretation of a really fun side dish I tried at Lemonade and it’s a delicious, healthy way to get some more cauliflower in your life. The book says that they make their curry oil using green apple chunks and onions to infuse flavor so that’s what I tried. It was brilliantly delicious! If you’re up for modifying recipes to perfection, I’d recommend taking a look at the Lemonade cookbook for some interesting inspiration.
I use macadamia nut oil here because it’s light, super healthy, and has a high smoke point. You can use any oil you see fit if macadamia isn’t in your pantry.
What do you love making with cauliflower?
- 1 large head cauliflower, cut into florets
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 1 cup slivered almonds, toasted
- ⅓ cup golden raisins
- ⅓-1/2 cup vinaigrette
- 1 cup macadamia nut oil
- 1 granny smith apple, chopped
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 Tablespoon high quality curry powder
- 1 Tablespoon turmeric
- 1-1/2 Tablespoon seedy whole grain mustard
- 1 Tablespoon agave nectar
- 2-1/2 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- juice from half a lemon
- 1 Tablespoon orange juice
- salt and pepper
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss florets with olive oil and spread on baking sheet. Salt and pepper generously and roast cauliflower for 30 minutes, flipping halfway through.
- Meanwhile, make the curry oil by heating a couple tablespoons of the macadamia oil in a large skillet, add onion and apple and sauté for a few minutes until fragrant. Stir in curry powder and turmeric and sauté until the spices darken slightly.
- Stir in the rest of the oil and boil for a few minutes so the flavors can infuse. Let cool then strain oil through fine mesh filter, discarding onion and apple.
- In a bowl, whisk together the mustard, agave, vinegar, lemon juice, orange juice, and a few grind of salt and pepper. Whisk this mixture into the curry oil. Refrigerate leftover vinaigrette for later use.
- In a large bowl, toss roasted cauliflower with almonds and golden raisins. Then add ⅓-1/2 cup of the vinaigrette according to your taste and toss to coat.
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