In this flavourful winter salad, I experimented with keeping the purple pigments intact. If you boil a purple cauliflower it will turn bright green. I read that cooking without water, instead tossing in olive oil and gently sautéing or roasting, will keep the purple pigments from leeching out. It kind of worked. The cauli wasn’t as purple to start with as the summer-grown ones. It looks as though they are light sensitive and only turn purple where the light hits them.

Ingredients

• 1 purple cauliflower (or any cauliflower actually)
• Dash of oil and salt
• ½ cup tahini
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• ¼ cup cold water
• 2 crushed garlic cloves
• Salt to taste

Method

1. Break the cauli up into even sized florets, toss with oil and salt and put to roast in a preheated 180C oven.  Cook to your liking.
2. Make the dressing by mixing the tahini with the other ingredients. Do it gradually by adding the lemon juice slowly to start, then the water. When the water hits the oily tahini it will cause it to seize up and go solid. Keep adding water bit by bit until you have a creamy consistency. Add the garlic and salt to taste.
3. To serve, spread the dressing on the bottom of the dish first so it doesn’t smother the beautiful cauliflower. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.