This is a very delicious salad that I am proud to have thought up. Sweet roasted cauliflower is topped with a peppery nutty seasoning and tart pickled celery for crunch. It makes an excellent lunch all by itself. It could be a fancy first course served with Whipped Ricotta and nice bread. It would make an excellent accompaniment to fish, such as Olive Oil Poached Halibut with Green Fennel Seeds.

I was inspired to make this salad 2012 and was so excited about it at the time! However, this recipe was one of those posts that almost no one ever looked at. Maybe people don’t like celery? I’m not sure. I’ve been posting here for nearly 15 years and I am still baffled by what readers get excited about and what gets looked over. You can see some very nice photos that I took and read about the inspiration in that 2012 post if you like.

I’ll admit that the lack of interst in this salad made me less excited about it, and I kind of forgot about it. This weekend though, I got cauliflower and celery in my farm share and I had all of the other ingredients, so I made the salad for the first time in a decade. Folks, this is a very, very good dish. Please try it. I’ve taken new photos and organized the instructions of the recipe a bit differently, but the dish is identical to the original. This is making me think that I should revisit some of the other least popular recipes on this blog.

Roasted Cauliflower with Hazelnuts and Pickled Celery

Pickled Celery

Make the pickles at least an hour in advance. These pickles keep well for many days and make a nice addition to salads and sandwiches.

• 2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar or white vinegar (you may need to add a splash more)
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 Tablespoon salt
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons sugar

In a jar with a lid, whisk together the vinegar, water, sugar and salt.  Add the celery.  If the liquid does not cover the celery add a splash more vinegar. Let sit for at least one hour before using. Seal and store leftovers in the fridge.

Hazelnut Seasoning Salt

This can be made in advance or while the caulidlower is roasting. Use leftovers to add crunch and deliciousness to other salads, soups, pastas or roasted vegetables.

• 1/3 cup hazelnuts
• 1 teaspoon celery seeds
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt

H eat a small skillet and dry roast the hazelnuts until they are toasted, then remove them from the pan.  Add the peppercorns and celery seeds to the pan and remove from the heat. Toss the spices until they are fragrant. In a mortar & pestle, crush the toasted spices with the coarse salt until they are coarsely ground.  Add the hazelnuts and crush them lightly. I like some to be ground up and others to be left in halves. Store leftovers in a sealed container somewhere cool.

To finish the salad

You can do this in advance if you like the cauliflower is good hot, room temperature or cold.

• 1  head of cauliflower
• 1/4 cup olive oil (you may need a splash more if your cauliflower is large)
• Salt and pepper to season
• Pickled celery
• Hazelnut seasoning salt

1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
2. Trim and peel anything tough off of the cauliflower stem. Break the cauliflower into florets and then slice them into halves or quarters (depending on the size) so that they have flat sides that will rest against the hot roasting pan. The trimmed stem can be cut into the same size as the divided florets.
3. On a large rimmed metal baking tray, toss the cauliflower pieces with the oil and spread them out. Season with salt and pepper
4. Roast in the hot oven until edges start to brown, about 20 minutes, stirring halfway through.
5. Serve the roasted cauliflower hot, warm or cold, topped with the hazelnut seasoning salt and pickled celery.