Quick and Easy

George Calombaris’ garden peas, cauliflower, almonds, lemon

This fresh, colourful and tasty salad of garden peas, cauliflower, almonds and lemon is quick, easy, and the perfect flavour combination for any meal. George Calombaris shares his recipe from his cookbook Greek.
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Ingredients

Garden peas, cauliflower, almonds, lemon
Oregano salt
Lemon dressing

Method

Garden peas, cauliflower, almonds, lemon

1.Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat, add the onion and cook until translucent. Add the cream and half the cauliflower and simmer gently over low heat for 10–12 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently to avoid any colouration. Strain, reserving the cooking liquid. Transfer the cauliflower and onion to a blender and blend to a smooth puree, adding a little of the reserved cooking liquid as required.
2.Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil and cook the peas for 1 minute, then refresh in iced water. Drain.
3.Preheat the oven to 160°C (fan-forced).
4.Make oregano salt: combine the dried oregano, salt and sugar in a small bowl.
5.Toast the almonds in the oven for 10 minutes or until golden, then roughly chop and season with a little oregano salt.
6.Make lemon dressing: whisk together the lemon juice and olive oil. Season to taste with oregano salt.
7.Heat the oil for deep-frying in a deep-fryer to 180°C (or in a heavy-based saucepan until a cube of bread browns in 15 seconds). Add the remaining cauliflower florets and deep-fry until golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel. Season with oregano salt.

You may have heard of the saying ‘when it rains pumpkins, make soup and sell it’. Well in the same spirit, I say when peas are in season, make this salad. It’s colourful, super-fresh and really yummy. For maximum flavour, make sure the peas are at room temperature when you serve the salad.

Note

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