Fall Salad With Maple Vinaigrette

This Fall Roasted Vegetable dish is the salad version of Thanksgiving Stuffing. It has all of the key thanksgiving flavors, but with more texture and less mush.

This salad is fantastic when made ahead and served at room temperature. The roasted celery, hazelnuts and the warm spices make it just different enough from other roasted veggie dishes to make it both familiar and unique, and the hint of sweet from the maple syrup and dried cherries will entice kids who usually prefer their vegetables "plain."

We didn't roast cauliflower (or celery) when I was a kid. In fact, I remember when roasting cauliflower became a "thing." About 10 years ago. I started seeing it served roasted with sumac or with a sprinkling of za'atar, and it was delicious. Then, there was that phase where restaurants served whole heads of roasted cauliflower on cutting boards with aioli on the side, and while I am sure that there was a delicious version of whole roasted cauliflower somewhere, I never had it.

I think it's time for a cauliflower update: Roasted Cauliflower and Celery! They go so well together and roast at the same speed, so I was astonished to see that celery and cauliflower are not paired in Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg's The Flavor Bible. (For those who don't know it's a nerdy book that tells you what ingredients go with what). In fact, roasting celery isn't even mentioned as a possible technique for cooking celery in The Flavor Bible! That is a terrible omission. When roasted, celery's punchy grassiness turns becomes more mild and sweet (as opposed to just becoming kind of bland the way it does when you braise it). Also, I will definitely be roasting my celery this year before adding it to my TG stuffing.

I am currently working with only one rack in my oven as well as crazy sports/lives schedules, so I like recipes that can be made ahead so that dinner is waiting when we get back from lacrosse, gymnastics, school events and other such things. This salad will make an ideal side for thanksgiving dinner! The veggies can be roasted the day before, stored in the fridge over night, then brought to warm on the counter and the chopped apples and dressing can be added right before serving.

Note about Seasoning: I didn't add any heat to this recipe, just a bit of black pepper. I think a pinch of cayenne pepper added before roasting would give the recipe even more warmth, but my kids asked me not to mess with "perfection".

Note about Roasting Hazelnuts: I keep roasted hazelnuts on hand, but if you don't have any the fastest way to toast them (stir them and watch them like a hawk) is in a large skillet over medium low heat. I do not recommend toasting them with your roasting vegetables, it's too hard to gauge the timing and you'll likely end up with charred nuts.

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Fall Roasted Cauliflower and Celery Salad

Takes about 40 minutes to make including 20-30 minutes to roast the vegetables. Serves 5 as a side.

Ingredients

1 medium-large head of cauliflower cut into large bite-sized pieces

1-2 stalks of celery cut into 1 inch pieces

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup roasted, unsalted hazelnuts, coarsely chopped

1/3 cup dried cherries or cranberries

1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped

1/8 heaped teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 scant teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 medium apple, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Dressing

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

STEP ONE

Preheat oven to 425 or 400 convection. Combine large bite-sized cauliflower pieces and celery pieces in a mixing bowl and drizzle 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil over top. Mix them to combine then add a few grinds of black pepper and about 1 teaspoon of diamond kosher salt or 1/2 teaspoon sea salt and mix to combine.

STEP TWO

Spread celery and cauliflower out on a large rimmed baking sheet and bake until cauliflower starts to take on a roasted brown color and celery starts to brown around the edges (20-30 minutes). Once vegetables are roasted, remove from oven and set aside to cool until you're ready to build your salad.

STEP THREE

To build your salad, add celery, cauliflower, dried cherries, and hazelnuts to a serving bowl and sprinkle 1/8 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/8 teaspoon of allspice over top. Add chopped apple, dried cranberries and chopped hazelnuts, toss again, and set aside. In a small bowl combine 1 tablespoon each of maple syrup, olive oil, and sherry vinegar. Whisk to combine. Pour dressing over your salad, then top with chopped parsley and serve.

If you're going to make this salad a few hours ahead of time, you can dress it, just hold off on adding the chopped apple and parsley until just before you serve it.