Today we’re talking about a recipe that uses leftovers, made exclusively with ingredients left over from other preparations, the cauliflower salad with potatoes and artichokes. The three ingredients were already cooked, so it took me only a few minutes to season and prepare it. It’s a gluten-free and lactose-free dish, tasty and fun to be served cold, customizable as we like, keeping it completely vegetarian or adding boiled chicken, tuna, anchovies, and so on.
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very economical
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Boiling
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Spring
Ingredients
- 1 Cauliflower (small)
- 4 artichokes (or artichokes in oil)
- 4 Boiled potatoes
- 20 pitted olives (mixed green and black)
- to taste Celery chunks
- 20 cherry tomatoes (Or 5 salad tomatoes)
- to taste fine salt
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
- to taste fresh or dried oregano
Steps
In case we don’t have the main ingredients already cooked, we can start by boiling the cauliflower.
I personally boil it like this: I bring some water to a boil, and in the meantime, I remove all the leaves, the damaged parts, and the central core. I break down the cabbage into florets, wash them, and let them drain. As soon as the water comes to a boil, I add the cabbage florets, cover, and bring it back to a boil. From that moment, I let it boil for only 5 minutes to keep the cauliflower firm and not mushy. Then I drain it and let it cool.
For the artichokes, after cleaning them both outside and inside, I cut each into 4 wedges, wash them, and place them in a pan with a drizzle of oil, fine salt, a teaspoon of white wine, and a clove of garlic in its skin. I add 1 glass of water, cover, and let them cook for about 20-25 minutes over medium heat until they become tender, stirring occasionally.
As for the potatoes, I place them with their skins in already salted cold water, after washing them thoroughly, and bring to a boil with the lid on. At that point, I lower the heat to the minimum and let them cook for another 20 minutes, or until they can be easily pierced with a fork.
When the potatoes are cooked, I take them out of the boiling water and rinse them under a stream of cold water. I peel them and let them cool before cutting them into large chunks and adding them to the rest of the ingredients in the bowl.
We can assemble our salad in a large bowl when all the main ingredients are well-cooled.
Wash the cherry tomatoes (or salad tomatoes) and cut them into wedges or even smaller depending on taste.
Pit the olives and add them to the other ingredients.
Cut a small stalk of celery, peel it from the outer fibers, wash it, and cut it into small cubes.
Wash a few leaves of fresh oregano and add them to the rest of the ingredients. Season with fine salt, extra virgin olive oil, and mix everything. We can serve it immediately or cover it and leave it at room temperature if it’s not too hot, or store it in the fridge until serving time.
Bon appetit
