Cauliflower Salad (Recipe)

Ingredients

1 pound cauliflower, broken into flowerets and thinly sliced into bite-size pieces (4 cups)

1 cup thinly sliced radishes

1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced (1/2 cup)

1/2 cup sliced, pitted ripe olives

1/2 cup chopped watercress

1 8-ounce carton dairy sour cream

1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

Dash ground red pepper

Steps

1. In a large bowl, combine the cauliflowers, radishes, onions, olives and watercress.  Toss gently and set aside.

2. In a blender container, combine the sour cream, lemon juice, Parmesan cheese, garlic, salt, pepper and red pepper.  Cover and blend well.

3. Pour the dressing over the vegetables, tossing to coat.  Cover and refrigerate up to 2 hours.

Tips:

To prepare fresh cauliflower: Rinse the the entire heat under cold water.  remove and discard the outer green leaves.  Using a knife, remove and discard the woody stem.  Break or cut the flowerets from the head.

If desired, you can use broccoli for all or part of the cauliflower in this recipe.  If watercress isn't available, substitute finely snipped spinach.

The leaves and stems of watercress, while delicate in appearance, have a lively, peppery tang.  When shopping, choose watercress with healthy-looking stems and bright green leaves.  Clean watercress by dunking it in a large bowl of cold water.  Repeat with fresh water until no more sand or dirt collects in the bowl.  Pat dry.  Store in a plastic bag with a paper towel.

This salad can be made up to 24 hours before serving.  If you plan to do so, however, wait to add the watercress until just before serving since it has a tendency to release water into the salad.

Light sour cream can be used instead of regular sour cream.

Garnish the salad with radish roses or radish accordions and additional watercress.  Or, try garnishing with a green onion brush, use just the green portion of green onion and make slashes at both ends of the onion to make fringes.  Place in ice water to curl the ends.

From : America's Best-Loved Community Recipes