Avocado and cauliflower
ceviche
I'll be honest. Avocado plays a leading role in essentially every salad I create. I wanted to, however, share one in particular that really highlights every flavor involved and was also a cinch to put together. This cauliflower ceviche is bursting with color and taste, which already makes it a house favorite. It holds up so well, it is arguably even more delicious the following day.
Ingredients:
2 ripe avocados, cubed
4 cups riced cauliflower
1 cup chopped tomatoes (I used multi-colored heirloom)
1 cup sweet peppers, diced
1 cup red onion, diced
1 cup cucumber, diced
1 serrano pepper, seeded and diced
1 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
1/2 cup citrus marinade (see below)
Citrus Marinade:
4 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
4 Tablespoons fresh pineapple juice
1 teaspoon coconut nectar, or agave
Himalayan sea salt and pepper, to taste
Begin with the marinade. Whisk together the lime juice, pineapple juice, coconut nectar, salt and white pepper to taste. Altogether, this should yield 1/2 cup, which will be just the right amount for this batch. Set aside.
In a large salad bowl, incorporate all of your vegetable ingredients that you will be using, with the exception of the avocado. Mix the ingredients well, until it has an eye-pleasing distribution. Give it a taste and see if you would like to add more of any ingredient, or even something else! Once it is where you would like for it to be, pour in the citrus marinade. No need to season; the dressing on its own really does the trick.
Once the ingredients are fully incorporated and the citrus marinade has been added, only then do I add the avocado. Very gently fold in the cubed avocado until well proportioned. The marinade will do a fantastic job protecting the avocado from browning.
The key here is to have fun with this. Once I powered through this initial batch, I made another slightly different with fresh mango and kicking out the sweet peppers. It's all about creativity, color, and what is on hand. Additionally, you can leave out the pineapple juice from the marinade; I used it here simply because I had some and I thought it would deliver a an effervescent zing to the final product. It was spectacular.
This dish is amazing on its own as the main event, or served with black bean chips as an appetizer. And again, don't forget to leave some for the following day (if you can resist)!
Enjoy!