A throw together salad that goes “POW” in your mouth. I made Shepards Pie with a cauliflower “crust” and ended up only needing 1/2 a head of cauliflower. I needed to use up the other half in some fashion. I made a 24 hour quick pickle with the cauliflower and threw in some carrots too. The pickled veggies add a good zip, and allow me to control the sugar content– most brines contain a massive amount of sugar.

Ingredients

Pickled Cauliflower and Carrots

• 1/2 head cauliflower, chopped small
• 2 carrots, sliced thinly
• 1/2 c white wine vinegar
• 1/2 c red wine vinegar
• 1/2 c water
• 2 T salt
• 1 T sugar
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed

Antipasto

• 6 oz.  salami, pepperoni or other cured meat, chopped
• 1 can quartered artichokes, chopped
• 1/2 c roasted red peppers, chopped
• 1/3 c pistachios, chopped
• handful of basil and oregano, chopped
• 3 T pepperoncini, chopped
• olive oil, to taste
• black pepper, to taste
• other ingredients that you may like: red chili flakes, capers, red onions, kalamata olives, feta cheese

Method

In a medium bowl combine all ingredients for the pickles, place in fridge and let marinate for at least 24 hours. Toss the cauliflower/carrot mixture with a spoon a few times when you go in the fridge. Us a slotted spoon to remove the cauliflower and carrots from the brine. Be sure to remove the garlic if you don’t want it, it’s camouflaged really well by the cauliflower. We chopped the garlic up and put it in the salad, but it’s a bit spicy still, even pickled.

Place the cauliflower/carrots in a large bowl along with the rest of the chopped anitpasto ingredients. Serve immediately or keep in the fridge for a week or so.