Whether you call it Independence Day or the Fourth of July, our most patriotic holiday is this week, and it’s a really fun one to celebrate. It’s summertime, everyone is outdoors – grilling by the pool or at the local park, or chilling at the beach – and after sundown there’s always a colorful fireworks display to light up the night sky. Okay TBH I‘m not a huge fan of fireworks because they scare the bejeezus out of my furkids, but if you’re not a crazy overprotective cat mom like me, enjoy the show!
When it comes to the menu for a Fourth of July celebration, American backyard classics tend to be everyone’s default: burgers, dogs, ribs, wings, corn on the cob, slaw, and a mayonnaise-laden potato salad. Of course this patriotic day wouldn’t be complete without some sort of red, white, and blue food, and that’s most often accomplished with a dessert like a flag cake, or a mixed berry salad topped with whipped cream, or those red, white and blue rocket ice pops for the kids. Remember those? I’m all for tradition, but I have a few issues with this tried-and-true-approach: a) It’s extremely meat-centric; b) I don’t really like mayo in my potato salad, and c) I’d rather contribute a savory dish to the party, yet I want to make it patriotic AND keep it light and vegan-friendly. My solution? This delicious potato salad! I’ve swapped out some of the potatoes for nutty roasted cauliflower to lighten things up, added a sweet roasted pepper, dressed it with a punchy vinaigrette instead of mayo, and added crisp peppery radishes and soaked red onion for crunch and bite. I also fold in a touch of briny feta cheese for an extra salty kick, and it’s easily substituted with your favorite crumbled dairy-free cheese. This potato salad is nutritious, packed with savory flavors and wonderful textures, and the colors happens to be primarily red, white, and blue. Boom.
This is an easy dish to put together, and it’s great when made ahead of time because it gives the vegetables a chance to soak up the fantastic vinaigrette. You can prep it a day or two ahead of your celebration and refrigerate it, then leave it at room temperature for a while before serving to remove the chill. Just keep the radishes separate and fold them in before serving, otherwise they’ll get soggy.
Before you do anything else, arrange your oven racks in the upper middle and lower middle positions, and turn it on to 450°F to preheat.
First up: the vinaigrette. I like to get started on this immediately so that the flavors have a few minutes to meld and it’s ready to go when the vegetables are cooked. You want to toss the vegetables with the vinaigrette while they’re warm so it really soaks in. Just whisk all the vinaigrette ingredients together in a small bowl, or add them to a jar and shake to combine. Set the dressing aside at rom temperature until ready to use.
Yes, it tastes as good as it looks. Would it be weird to drink vinaigrette? Asking for a friend.
Time to get roasting. Set the pepper on a small sheet pan, and place it on whichever rack is closest to your oven’s heating element. Roast the pepper for about 20 minutes, turning every 5 minutes, until it’s nicely blistered on all sides. Once the pepper is in the oven toss the cauliflower with a tablespoon of olive oil, a generous pinch of salt, and a few grinds of pepper, and spread it out on a sheet pan. Slide it onto the other oven rack and roast the cauliflower for about 15 minutes, or until lightly browned and tender, stirring every 5 minutes or so.
While the cauliflower and pepper are roasting, cook the potatoes. I recommend a moist cooking method here to keep them nice and tender. There’s many a time and place for crispy potatoes, but this isn’t one. For this salad I like to simmer them with a smashed garlic clove, a bay leaf, a generous pinch of salt, and a splash of white or apple cider vinegar to maintain the vivid blue color of those potatoes. (As an alternative you can steam them, but you miss out on the opportunity to add extra flavor with the garlic, bay leaf, and salt.)
Add the potatoes to a saucepan and cover them with cold water (the water should reach about ½ inch above the potatoes). Add the crushed garlic, bay leaf, a splash of vinegar and a big pinch of salt, crank up the heat, and bring it all to a simmer. Once it’s there, adjust the heat to maintain the simmer and let the potatoes cook for about 5-8 minutes, or just until they’re easily pierced with the tip of a knife.
Once the pepper is blistered, remove it from the oven, transfer to a small bowl, and cover with the sheet pan or a plate – this allows the pepper to steam for a few minutes, loosening the skin for ease of peeling.
See how blistered and wrinkly the pepper got? I haven’t even steamed this one yet, but you can see that the skin is already puckering and the pepper is collapsing. It’s perfect.
Get the roasted cauliflower from the oven and add it to a large bowl. Mmm, tender, lightly browned, and still steamy from the oven!
Drain the potatoes, discard the garlic and bay leaf, and halve or quarter the potatoes depending on size. How gorgeous is that color?! Add the potatoes to the cauliflower, pour about two thirds of the vinaigrette over everything, and toss to coat.
Now carefully remove the skin from the pepper by peeling it off in pieces or gently rubbing the pepper with a clean towel.
Here’s my peeled pepper – the skin pulled right off. Once peeled, cut or tear open the pepper (watch out for escaping steam!) and discard the core, seeds, and any stringy white ribs. Dice the pepper and add to the bowl of cauliflower and potatoes. Add the sliced radishes and diced onion, drizzle in the remaining vinaigrette, sprinkle on the dill and parsley, and fold in the cheese. Taste for seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper if desired.
That’s it – easy peasy. Enjoy this delicious, beautiful dish, and have a safe and happy holiday everyone!
- For Vinaigrette:
- 45 ml (3 Tbsp) extra virgin olive oil
- 60 ml (¼ cup) sherry vinegar
- 15 ml (1 Tbsp) Dijon mustard
- ½ tsp grated or minced garlic
- ½ tsp sugar or one drop liquid stevia
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- For Salad:
- 1 lb cauliflower florets, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 15 ml (1 Tbsp) extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large red bell pepper (7-8 oz)
- 1 ½ lbs blue baby potatoes*, preferably no larger than golf ball size
- Water
- 1 small garlic clove, lightly crushed but intact
- 1 small bay leaf
- Kosher salt
- Splash of white or apple cider vinegar
- 2 oz (2 large) red radishes, halved or quartered, thinly sliced
- 2 oz red onion (¼ medium), diced
- 3 Tbsp fresh dill, finely chopped
- 3 Tbsp parsley leaves, finely chopped
- 3 oz feta cheese or dairy-free alternative (I like Kite Hill plain almond cheese)
- Preheat oven to 450°F with racks set in upper middle and lower middle positions.
- Make the vinaigrette: whisk all vinaigrette ingredients together in a small bowl, or add to a jar and shake to combine. Set aside at rom temperature until ready to use.
- Roast the pepper and cauliflower: Set pepper on a small sheet pan, and place it on oven rack closest to heating element. Roast pepper for about 20 minutes, turning every 5 minutes, until nicely blistered on all sides. Toss cauliflower with olive oil, a generous pinch of salt, and a few grinds of pepper, and spread out on a sheet pan. Slide onto other oven rack and roast for about 15 minutes or until lightly browned and tender, stirring every 5 minutes.
- While pepper and cauliflower are roasting, cook the potatoes: Add potatoes to a saucepan and cover with cold water by about ½ inch. Add crushed garlic, bay leaf, splash of vinegar and large pinch of salt, and bring to a simmer over high heat. Once simmering, adjust the heat to maintain steady simmer and cook potatoes for about 5-8 minutes, or until easily pierced with the tip of a knife.
- Steam, peel, and dice the pepper: Once the pepper is blistered on all sides, transfer to a small bowl and cover with sheet pan or a plate. Let sit for a few minutes, then carefully peel off and discard skin, remove and discard stem, core, and seeds, and cut pepper into small dice.
- Assemble the salad: Add cauliflower to a large bowl. Drain potatoes, and cut into halves or quarters depending on size. Add potatoes and diced pepper to cauliflower, drizzle in two thirds of the vinaigrette, and toss to coat. Slice radishes and add to bowl along with diced onion, chopped herbs, and crumbled cheese. Add remaining vinaigrette and fold to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper if desired.
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