Middle-Eastern Cauliflower & Brussel Sprout Salad with Miso Almond Hummus

A winter Middle-Eastern cauliflower & brussel sprout salad with miso almond hummus – adorned with an oozy poached egg, goat’s cheese and dukkah.  Jump to Recipe 

pro-cras-ti-na-tion |prəˌkrastəˈnāSHən, prō-|
noun
the action of delaying or postponing something

Let’s talk procrastination. I’ve been particularly good at it this week, you see. Very good at browsing the web aimlessly, reading irrelevant new stories, watching instagram stories, checking the fridge in case inspiration strikes, and generally avoiding or prolonging whatever I’m attempting to ignore. I’ve even stooped to the level of scrolling facebook on my laptop, giving up, picking up my phone and scrolling facebook there too, as if something different might miraculously appear on a different sized screen. It’s almost automatic. Procrastination is a strange phenomenon – you’re completely aware of your time-wasting habits, but somehow can’t quite stop yourself. Like Tim Urban put it in the TED radio hour talk I listened to yesterday – it’s like a rational decision-maker monkey waging war on an instant gratification monkey’.

If you want to procrastinate some more, read Tim Urban’s blog post on the topic here for an entertaining ten minutes.

There was another positive spin on it, however. According to Adam Grant (LINK), mild procrastination actually increases creativity – but only a particular form. The key is to start early, but finish late. By starting a task early, you begin to consider possibilities and ideas. They sit and simmer at the back of your brain, a low, slow burn. You make new connections, draw on different resources, and end up with something much more than when you first contemplated it. As long as you don’t leave it TOO long – because then you’ll end up with a rushed, half-finished, unoriginal product completed during an all-nighter right before it’s due. But being too eager, too focussed on getting it finished – sitting down and completing it all in one go as soon as possible – could result in an equally conventional, generic result. It’s a fine line, apparently.

Here in Melbourne, the seasons are really complicating my blog posts and plans. It’s cold, and brussel sprouts, cauliflower and pumpkin are all still around – but strawberries are also the cheapest they’ve been all year (coming down from much warmer Queensland) and zucchini and tomatoes are on special. I’m torn between making winter posts to suit the winter weather, using strawberries to celebrate the arrival of spring, or hanging with the northern hemisphere and making autumnal harvest recipes. Can we not be so confusing please, supermarket?

Today we’ve gone with winter, however.  This middle-eastern cauliflower & brussel sprout salad with miso almond hummus combines some of my favourite ingredients and flavours – golden edged, caramelized florets of cauliflower, fragrant with fresh thyme and garlic; bundles of chopped mint and parsley; the crunch of sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and chopped almonds; a hint of pomegranate molasses and tangy lemon juice. Creamy goats cheese and spiced dukkah. The hummus works – don’t doubt the miso. Salty and savoury, a little richer than usual with almonds added too. It’s a smooth and creamy base for the winter vegetable salad. And of course, a salad isn’t complete around here without a runny poached egg on top. It pulls everything together – and who could resist the allure of that bright yellow yolk?

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Middle-Eastern Cauliflower & Brussel Sprout Salad with Miso Almond Hummus

Prep Time

30 mins

Cook Time

10 mins

Total Time

40 mins

 

A winter cauliflower & brussel sprout salad with miso almond hummus - adorned with an oozy poached egg, goat's cheese and dukkah.

Miso almond hummus adapted from Seven Spoons

Servings: 3 -4

Author: Claudia Brick

Ingredients

Miso almond hummus:

• 1/4 cup raw almonds
• 1 x can chickpeas , drained (or 1.5 cups cooked)
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 2 tablespoons shiro/white miso
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup ice cold water (to desired consistency)

Cauliflower & Brussel Sprout Salad

• 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
• small head of cauliflower , florets cut off
• 10-15 brussel sprouts , halved
• 1-2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
• 2 cloves garlic , finely chopped
• freshly ground pepper
• 1 cup kale , finely chopped
• 1/2 cup mint , chopped
• 1/2 cup parsley , chopped
• 2 tablespoons currants
• 2 tablespoons almonds , chopped
• 1 tablespoon each sunflower and pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 cup bulghar wheat , cooked according to instructions
• juice of a lemon
• 1 teaspoon pomegranate molasses

To serve

• poached eggs , 1-2 per person (see instructions here)
• lime wedges
• 50 g feta or goat’s cheese , crumbled
• 2 teaspoons dukkah

Instructions

Miso Almond Hummus

1. Blitz the almonds in a food processor until finely ground.
2. Add the chickpeas, tahini and miso and blitz again until combined.
3. Add the lemon juice, garlic, and ice cold water and blitz until smooth. Taste and adjust the garlic, lemon and water to desired taste and consistency.

Cauliflower & Brussel Sprout Salad

1. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the cauliflower florets and sautee for 5 minutes. Add the halved brussel sprouts and sautee for a further 5-10 minutes or until the cauliflower and sprouts are tender and golden at the edges.
2. Add the fresh thyme, minced garlic and freshly ground pepper and sautee for an additional couple of minutes until fragrant.
3. Stir in the kale and cook for another minute or two.
4. Take off the heat and toss through the mint, parsley, currants, chopped almond, sunflower and pumpkin seeds and bulghar wheat.
5. Stir through the lemon juice and pomegranate molasses to taste.

To serve

1. To serve, poach eggs (1-2 per person - see link in ingredients list for instructions)
2. Plate up with a generous smear of miso almond hummus, a serving of salad, poached eggs, crumbled feta and a sprinkle of dukkah .