Grilled Cauliflower and Chicken Salad
with Korean Chili Dressing
- Serves 3
I like a salad with substance rather than one with just tons of leafy greens. Even better, when it has hearty roast vegetables in it, especially cauliflower. This is one of my favorites as it combines golden roasted cauliflower florets with spicy grilled chicken and one of my most cherished Asian salad dressings of all time - my Korean chili dressing. Don’t be fooled by its name as this dressing isn’t exactly spicy, instead it's packed with goodness from umami-rich Gochujiang (fermented Korean chili paste). This beautiful condiment is used to enrich both flavor and color in many well-known Korean dishes, and I have used it liberally in both - my chicken and the dressing. You can find it very easily in red plastic tubs in most international and Asian supermarkets.
I use native cauliflower for many of recipes (except cauliflower soup) as the water content in it is quite low and it has a nice bite to it. Native Asian cauliflower has thinner florets with gaps in between, compared to regular cauliflower where the florets are packed together. If you can’t find it, this recipe works well with regular cauliflower too. Just make sure you don’t put too many florets on your baking tray so they have enough room around them to roast. If you pack too much cauliflower on the tray without any room in between, the florets will steam instead of roasting, resulting in a watery mess. Other than that, the recipe is extremely easy to follow - enjoy!
Ingredients
1 large head of cauliflower, cut into florets
2 tablespoons Papa’s Grove extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper, to sprinkle
1 medium red onion, skin-on
2-3 cloves garlic, skin-on
6-8 tomatoes on the vine, halved or quartered depending on size
2 Grilled Korean Chicken breasts (recipe here)
1 spring onion, greens only - cut into matchsticks
Toasted black and white sesame, for garnish
For dressing:
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon gochujiang (Korean chili paste)
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
1/2 teaspoon toasted white sesame seeds
1 teaspoon sugar
Pinch of salt
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
Recipes
1. Preheat you oven to 200ºC. Place cauliflower florets on a large baking tray. Sprinkle salt, pepper and drizzle extra-virgin olive oil all over, and give it a good toss. Place onion and garlic in the same tray, and roast for 25 minutes until cauliflower has a lovely golden crust. Let it cool.
2. Once cool, peel onion and garlic. Chop onion into large segments and place in a salad bowl along with tomatoes, peeled garlic and grilled cauliflower. Cover and refrigerate the salad until ready to serve. In winters, this salad can also be served warm.
3. To make dressing, combine soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, gochujiang, grated ginger, sesame seeds, sugar, salt and black pepper - whisk together until well combined.
4. Cook two chicken breasts as per instructions in our Grilled Korean Chicken recipe. Let chicken cool for about 20 minutes before slicing and adding to the salad bowl.
5. Add freshly chopped spring onion to salad and drizzle dressing just before serving. Garnish with some toasted sesame and serve immediately.
Note : Leftover salad dressing can be refrigerated for up to a week.