Roasted Cauliflower Salad With Watercress, Walnuts and Gruyère

This dish was a hit, and very easy!! Although I admit I complicated things a little - instead of just toasting the walnuts as-is, I doused them with a mixture of maple syrup, tamari and a tiny bit of sri racha beforehand. This turns the nuts into little flavor bombs, and increases the adventure level. I used arugula with a little spinach for the green, and it worked fine.

I anticipate this becoming my go-to winter salad and look forward to trying it with broccoli, beets, and winter squash. Substituted arugula for watercress and threw in some dried cranberries. Was fortunate enough to be able to pick up some huge end-of-the-season cauliflower at the farmstand which they were practically giving away, which made the salad even more flavorful.

Made with arugula and frisée.
Was most enjoyable.

I didn't add the cheese and added pears. Really great as a substantial side salad!

I cooked this earlier this evening and thought it was just terrific. The proportions are perfect, the flavors are nicely balanced and the presentation is clean and sophisticated. I wouldn't change a thing. Kudos to Melissa for this keeper.

This was really delicious! Adding golden raisins next time.

I used beets and it turned out really well.

This recipe is clearly a good foundation for many wonderful variations. I used arugula, parmesan and toasted almond slivers. A hit! What a nice way to brighten up roasted cauliflower which has become one of my mainstay dishes!

I tried it with blue cheese as well. Both Gruyere and a blue are quite tasty in this dish.

This was really good. A small head of cauliflower threw off the diced cheese/cauliflower proportion so, lots of cheese in the leftovers. i didn't want melty cheese so, i diced for softened warmed cheese, instead. To bump up flavor, i dashed in a bit more vinegar and lessened the dressing's oil to 2 Tbs. Served it with Pan Roasted (Trout) Fish Fillets w Herb Butter (Julia Moskin). In this case, cheese and fish combo worked out alright, indeed.

This is a delicious way to get my husband to eat a salad! I had a bunch of spinach and used that instead of the watercress. And I used toasted almonds rather than walnuts. I'll be making this often this winter...

This salad is delicious, and is worthy of company, or a dinner party!

Good idea!

I served this salad at brunch with Heidi Swanson's egg strata & bacon. It was superb and guests loved it. I'll be making this again, and again.

Had so many comments on it from guests - paired it with a indian fusion meal. Made a couple substitutions/changes. Added Arugula/rocket to the watercress to give more bulk. Used combo of cider vinegars as didn't have sherry vinegar. Added some soy sauce to the cauliflower (as think it always needs some kind of sugar to really enhance flavor when roasting) & used parmesan as forgot to buy gruyere. Would imagine much better with gruyere but parmesan certainly works.