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Roasted Cauliflower Salad With Halloumi and Lemon
![Roasted Cauliflower Salad With Halloumi and Lemon](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020/01/22/dining/aw-roasted-cauliflower-salad/merlin_181989474_49bca2ea-3ca5-4cf1-a0a5-7a275a0c0241-articleLarge.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 1large head cauliflower (about 2 pounds), cut into 1½-inch wedges
- ½cup olive oil
- 1teaspoon Aleppo or ½ teaspoon red-pepper flakes
- 1½teaspoons ground coriander
- ¾teaspoon ground turmeric
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 1small shallot, minced (about ⅓ cup)
- ¼cup golden raisins
- 1large preserved lemon, seeded, halved, seeded, then very thinly sliced (about 3 tablespoons)
- 1tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1teaspoon honey
- 1(8-ounce) block halloumi
- 6ounces baby arugula (about 8 packed cups)
- 1large ripe avocado, halved, pitted and diced
- 1cup torn fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves and tender sprigs
Preparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 425 degrees and set a large rimmed baking sheet on the middle rack.
- Step 2
In a large bowl, toss the cauliflower with 3 tablespoons olive oil, the Aleppo, coriander, turmeric, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Transfer to the hot baking sheet, spread in an even layer and roast until browned in spots and crisp-tender, tossing once halfway through, 20 to 25 minutes.
- Step 3
Meanwhile, prepare the vinaigrette: In a small bowl, stir together the shallot, raisins, preserved lemon, vinegar and honey with 3 tablespoons olive oil, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Set aside.
- Step 4
Prepare the halloumi: Cut the halloumi into ¾-inch cubes and pat dry using a kitchen towel or paper towels. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large cast-iron skillet over high. Add the halloumi cubes and cook, stirring frequently, until browned, 2 to 3 minutes. (You’ll want to be fairly attentive, flipping frequently, as you want to make sure the cubes toast without burning or melting.) Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and season with pepper.
- Step 5
Toss the arugula with half the vinaigrette until lightly coated and divide among plates or shallow bowls. Top with the cauliflower, halloumi and avocado. Drizzle with the remaining vinaigrette, sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Any advice on searing the halloumi? Mine instantly started melting. I couldn’t leave it on the heat long enough to get the brown shown in the picture. Should I have coated it first with cornstarch or flour or something?
Very fun to make. Great textures, colorful, and put me out of my comfort zone with new ingredients with the halloumi and preserved lemon. A few tips if you choose to make this dish: use less salt and/or fresh lemon instead of preserved because the preserved lemon adds extra salt. Don't skip out on the raisins, avocado, or couscous for a rounded out dish. Helllooo halloumi :p
I find halloumi browns really well in a dry, non-stick pan.
You can easily add the cubed halloumi to the sheet pan with the cauliflower for the last 10-12 minutes of the cauliflowers cooking time! Just coat it in a bit of oil in the same bowl you tossed the cauliflower and spices in (don’t wipe them out). It crisps up perfectly and then there are no extra pans to clean up! For extra credit add torn pita to the halloumi when you toss it with oil and throw it all in the last 10 mins. Sprinkle with Sumac after you take it out of the oven. Delish and easy!
Shocked how well the flavors and textures blended together. Everyone at the table had seconds... we barely made it to the second course! We suggest adding pumpkin seeds for an extra crunch!
I just toss the cubed halloumi in with the cauliflower the last 10-15 minutes of roasting. It browns perfectly and eliminated the need to dirty another pan! Works like a charm.
Delicious! Love this salad. Wonderful flavors I would omit the oil in browning the Halloumi I brown all the time in a non stick skillet dry skillet. It has enough oil and the added oil makes a mess!
Use only half teaspoon of salt and half of pepper on cauliflower. Didn’t use any salt or pepper in dressing per others notes. Didn’t have preserved lemon but used half a lemons worth of lemon juice in the dressing and some zest on salad
This was delicious! Slightly too salty, I suggest half as much salt on the cauliflower when it goes into the oven and then perhaps a little finishing salt at the end if you find it necessary. Otherwise, a big hit in my house. The creamy avocado was such a lovely complement to the flavorful cauliflower and the tangy dressing. I will make this again and again.
This was a delicious salad, full of flavors and textures. I concur with the previous viewer’s advice about the salt, both the preserved lemons and halloumi cheese increase the saltiness of the salad, so hold back a little till the end, and maybe finish it with some Maldon if needed. I ended up using a couple of teaspoons of pomegranate molasses, lemon juice and also increasing the honey a bit to offset the saltiness of the dressing. Turned out great tho!
Delicious! I listened to the comments and it worked out so well: added half the salt and added toasted pumpkin seeds. Such a great balance of flavors!
Best of all, try fried tofu.
Made this tonight great flavors! A few things to consider: 1. I read all the comments about too much salt. Keep in mind that you can rinse the preserved lemon rind to remove excess salt from the brine. I also removed the pulp and only used the rind. 2. Someone suggested adding the halloumi to the sheet pan which I tried. It tasted great but melted, so if you’re concerned about presentation you might want to follow the recipe. 3. I subbed dried cranberries for the golden raisins.
Oh. My. Goodness. Amazing, as everyone has said. Put no salt in the dressing, and no shallot (due to food sensitivities). Homemade preserved lemons, made sure to scoop out the flesh. Served with quinoa and a couple ounces of pork roasted with the same spice mix as the cauliflower. 10 stars out of 5.
Added farro and pistachios and served with these pork meatballs. Fabulous meal. https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019764-pork-meatballs-with-ginger-and-fish-sauce?
I'm still thinking about how good this salad was, like wow. I went the lazy/didn't have the ingredients route of making the vinaigrette and just did a mix of shallot, olive oil, lemon juice, sugar, pepper and salt and it was still excellent. I super highly recommend coating your halloumi with za'atar before you cook them, it works beautifully in this salad (or just as a cheese snack). Also I roasted the cauliflower with the same spice mix that's used in nyt chicken schwarma recipe.
Add toasted pine nuts
P.p.s. I would use chopped fig instead of raisins, and no need to add any additional salt. I toss in chickpeas to make it a larger portion if needed.
I never cook halloumi with oil in he pan. Always on a nonstick pan or skillet. Let it sit longer than you think it should, once it’s cooked enough it will flip perfectly. Ideal time is when a spatula can move it in the pan/on the grill with little to no stick. If you try to flip it and it’s sticky, lower the heat & let it sit a bit longer.
Add pearl couscous! You won’t regret it!
A quick, easy, and delicious weeknight meal. Doubled the vinaigrette and used juice of 1 fresh lemon in place of preserved lemon.
Oh. My. Goodness. Amazing, as everyone has said. Put no salt in the dressing, and no shallot (due to food sensitivities). Homemade preserved lemons, made sure to scoop out the flesh. Served with quinoa and a couple ounces of pork roasted with the same spice mix as the cauliflower. 10 stars out of 5.
Ok let me say first that this took me over an hour not 30 minutes so idk if I’m incompetent or what. However… WOW! So so delicious my fav salad I have had in a long time.
I see a lot of positive reviews where they subbed another ingredient for the preserved lemon. That may be the key. I followed the recipe exactly and found it to be powerfully salty (and I love salt) to the point that it was unpleasant to eat. The funk of the preserved lemon was also off-putting to me and didn't play well with the other ingredients. I think it's worthy of trying if you omit the preserved lemon and use something else in its stead.
I followed the recipe fairly closely - except I didn’t add any additional salt. The preserved lemon and halloumi have plenty of salt to flavor the whole dish. I also used red pepper flakes rather than Aleppo. It is really good. There are so many wonderful flavors and a variety of textures. I’ll definitely have this one again and again!
I gave this 5 stars even though made as written it is definitely too salty. next time I'll leave the salt out of the spice blend or the vinaigrette. I might also add fresh lemon zest and sub lemon juice for the vinegar as I found it missing brightness. Those tweaks aside, it is delicious and a definite keeper!
This is a great salad with a wonderful mix of flavors and textures! All the ingredients compliment each other nicely with no over-assertive notes. I made a couple substitutions as the instructions mention - dried tart cherries (had no golden raisins) and orange zest, juice and a squeeze of lemon (had no preserved lemons) for the dressing. I topped with a few grilled shrimp for a protein. Everyone raved I will definitely be making it again. Seems like an easy one to riff on with other additions.
That's it. I'm done with halloumi. It's only good for those first 30 seconds after you take it off the heat, and then instantly turns rubbery and tasteless. Too bad. Next time I'll use paneer.
Substituting feta (drained overnight) for halloumi made it crunchy, and guests thought the small cubes were deliciously umami croutons. We will reduce the quantity of dressing next time.
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