Cauliflower Antipasto

Raw caulifower and I go way back.

Wayyy back.

I’ve always preferred veggie trays that included raw cauliflower. My grandma used to always make a raw cauliflower salad with ranch dressing and green olives (which sounds weird, but tastes INCREDIBLE). I love cauliflower just straight off the head and dipped in ranch—even dipped in nothing at all.

I’ve been using much more cauliflower lately since I started keto, but shockingly I hadn’t used or eaten it raw. I decided the time to change that was now. I needed some raw cauliflower in my life! But how do I make it interesting for this blog? I can’t just type up “how to eat cauliflower with ranch. Dip in ranch. Fin.”

I thought the veggie would work well as a base for a good antipasto. Unfamiliar with antipasto? It’s exactly how it sounds. Anti-pasta. It’s an Italian salad with cold cuts of meat (salami, pepperoni, prosciutto), cheese, olives, and marinated vegetables. You know, all the good stuff.

I went with pepperoni for my meat, mini mozzarella balls, whole kalamata (my favorite olive), and some marinated mushrooms my grocery store’s olive bar had. Marinated mushrooms are the bomb if you can find them! So are those bright green olives that are usually included on olive bars. Grab some of those if you get the chance.

You can mix and match your meats and veg, just make sure to include at least one protein, one cheese, and cauliflower. You’ve got yourself the perfect antipasto if you do that!

Cauliflower Antipasto

• Servings: 6-8
• Time: 5 mins
• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

A spin on traditional antipasto with cauliflower, pepperoni, cheese & marinated vegetables.

Ingredients

• 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
• 1 cup whole, pitted kalamata olives
• 1 cup pepperoni
• 1 1/2 cups mini mozzarella balls
• 1/2 cup roasted red peppers, sliced
• 1 1/2 cups marinated mushrooms
• 2 TBS. capers
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 3 TBS. salad vinegar
• 1 TBS. caper juice from the jar
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• salt & pepper

Directions

1. In a large bowl, toss cauliflower with olives, pepperoni, cheese, peppers, mushrooms and capers.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, vinegar, caper juice, lemon juice, oregano, salt & pepper until well combined.
3. Pour dressing over cauliflower mixture and toss again to coat. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Step-By-Step Instructions

In a large bowl, toss cauliflower with olives, pepperoni, cheese, peppers, mushrooms and capers.

In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, vinegar, caper juice, lemon juice, oregano, salt & pepper until well combined.

Pour dressing over cauliflower mixture and toss again to coat. Refrigerate until ready to serve.