Cauliflower & Olive Salad

The middle of summer represents such a cornucopia of fresh vegetables and fruits coming from the farms of southwestern Ontario that I have to restrain myself from buying everything I see at the local market. I always find at this time of year that I can't keep up with all the possibilities these wonderfully fresh flavours present, but this week I found myself particularly attracted to some large, beautiful and perfectly unblemished heads of local cauliflower. Since I haven't used cauliflower for some time now, I decided to dress it up in this simple and colourful cauliflower & olive salad that's one of my summer favourites. Considering it's sweltering hot here in London, this no cook salad was a perfect compliment to a light summer meal.

I like to use colossal kalamata olives when olives are called for, but you can also use green or black olives in this salad according to your preference. But I should add that if you love olives as much as I do, avoid ordinary canned or jarred olives and do yourself a favour by visiting local Greek food shops where the best olives are usually found, not to mention Greek sheep's milk feta cheese, and at very affordable prices. For those of you who live in or near London, I've never had any better olives or feta than at the Perfect Bakery on Hamilton Rd.

Cauliflower & olive salad

Salad:

1 medium head of cauliflower, cut into 1/4" slices
1 cup kalamata olives, coarsely chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup pimento pepper, chopped

Dressing:

1/2 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon sugar
fresh ground black pepper

Combine the salad ingredients in a large salad bowl. In another small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients. Pour the dressing over the vegetables and toss. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.