Roasted Vegetable Salad with Macadamia Cream
Roasted pumpkin, cauliflower and broccoli piled onto a smear of macadamia nut butter, drizzled with a balsamic and raisin dressing and scattered with chopped macadamias. A proper salad with substance. Prep it the night before and it only gets better.
South African cooking has always made space for macadamia nuts. The country is one of the world's largest producers, with significant orchards across Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal, and the nut has worked its way into everything from stoep snacks to restaurant menus. Using macadamia butter as a base for a salad platter is a very Cape trick, the kind of thing that shows up at farm tables and wine estate lunches in the Winelands. In the UAE, macadamia nuts are available at Spinneys, and this salad works as well at a Dubai dinner party as it does at a Stellenbosch braai. Make it the day before and let the vegetables soak up the dressing overnight.
Ingredients
- 500 g pumpkin or butternut, peeled, seeded and cubed
- 30 ml olive oil
- salt, pepper and a pinch of garlic powder to season
- 1 medium cauliflower head, cut into florets
- 30 ml olive oil
- 250 g broccoli florets or Brussels sprouts, halved
- 15 ml olive oil
- 45 ml balsamic vinegar
- 15 ml olive oil
- 5 ml Dijon mustard
- 5 ml honey
- 60 ml seedless raisins or sultanas
- 15 ml capers, roughly chopped, optional
- 80 ml macadamia nut butter
- 80 ml roasted macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200°C.
- Toss the pumpkin cubes in olive oil and season with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Spread onto one third of a large baking tray.
- Do the same with the cauliflower and the broccoli or Brussels sprouts, keeping each vegetable in its own section on the tray.
- Roast for 25 minutes until the edges are golden and the vegetables are just cooked through. Remove and leave to cool to room temperature.
- Whisk together the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, mustard, honey, salt and pepper. Stir in the raisins and capers if using.
- To assemble: spread the macadamia nut butter across a large serving platter.
- Pile the roasted vegetables on top.
- Spoon the balsamic dressing over everything.
- Scatter with chopped macadamia nuts and serve at room temperature.
Notes
Method
- Preheat oven to 200°C.
- Toss each vegetable separately in olive oil and season. Spread onto a large baking tray in three sections.
- Roast for 25 minutes until golden at the edges. Cool to room temperature.
- Whisk balsamic vinegar, olive oil, mustard, honey, salt and pepper. Stir in raisins and capers.
- Spread macadamia nut butter across a large platter.
- Pile roasted vegetables on top. Spoon dressing over everything.
- Scatter with chopped macadamias and serve at room temperature.
To make your own macadamia nut butter: blend 100 g roasted macadamias in a small blender until crumbly, then continue until it becomes a thick, smooth paste. Add a teaspoon of olive oil if needed to loosen it. This salad keeps well in the fridge overnight. The vegetables absorb the dressing and it only improves.