CAULIFLOWER COUSCOUS SALAD

I’ve been riffing on the brilliant recipes in Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables by Joshua McFadden for a year now. Here, I turn raw cauliflower into a vegetable couscous at his urging, and combine it with a variety of textures and flavours in my own take on one of Joshua’s great ideas. If you can get your hands on purple or orange cauliflower, they make a stunning salad. 1 small cauliflower ⅓ cup (80 mL) golden raisins, chopped ½ cup (125 mL) toasted, unsalted almonds, chopped 1 cup (250 mL) chopped parsley, loosely packed ½ cup (125 mL) chopped basil, loosely packed ¼ cup (60 mL) balsamic vinegar ½ cup (125 mL) extra virgin olive oil 4 finely chopped anchovy fillets 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 1. Remove the leaves from the cauliflower and, if leaves are fresh and unblemished, roughly chop and add to a large salad bowl. 2. Break or chop the cauliflower into 1-inch (2.5-cm) pieces and add to a food processor (working in batches if necessary); pulse until finely chopped and roughly the size of cooked couscous; add to salad bowl along with the raisins, almonds, parsley and basil. (Salad may be prepared to this point, covered and refrigerated for up to a day. Return to room temperature before serving.) 3. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, oil, anchovies and garlic; pour over salad ingredients and toss to combine. Season generously with salt and pepper and serve straight away.