Cauliflower Antipasto Salad

INGREDIENTS

•     4 cups chopped raw cauliflower

• 1 cup marinated mushrooms, sliced (or sautéed fresh)
• 2 oz. salami, (or I used @HolyCow Summer sausage) cut into short strips
• 2 oz. Provolone cheese, cut into short strips
• 6 oz. can black olives, drained and cut in half
• 12 oz. jar roasted red peppers, drained and cut into strips
• 3 T capers, drained (more or less to taste)

DRESSING INGREDIENTS:

• 1 /2 Cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3  fresh-squeezed lemons, juice
• 1 T caper juice (from the jar of capers)
• 1/2 tsp. dried Greek oregano
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp salt
• Pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

• Prepare a pan with a few inches of water,  with a steamer insert in the pan.
• Bring water to boil while you cut up the cauliflower.
• Cut out the core of the cauliflower and discard and cut cauliflower into bite sized pieces.
• When the water is boiling, add the cauliflower to the steamer or steamer basket and cook just 4 minutes. (Test a piece of cauliflower to be sure it’s tender but still slightly crisp.)
• Dump cauliflower into a colander placed in the sink and let it drain well.
• While the cauliflower drains, whisk together vinaigrette dressing, olive oil, lemon juice, caper juice, dried oregano, & spices to make the dressing.
• Put the dried cauliflower into a large Ziploc bag with about half the dressing and let cauliflower marinate in the fridge, preferably for 4-6 hours or as long as all day. (Minimum marinating time is 2-3 hours if you don’t plan far enough ahead.)
• When you’re ready to assemble the salad, slice the salami, Provolone, and drained red peppers into strips, slice mushrooms, and drain olives and cut in half. Measure out the capers.
• Put the marinated cauliflower in a large bowl and toss with the salami strips, Provolone strips, red pepper strips, sliced mushrooms, olives, and capers.
• Add more dressing until the salad is as moist as you prefer. (You may not want all the dressing.)
• Season to taste with salt and fresh-ground black pepper and serve.
• This salad can be made several hours ahead and will also keep in the fridge for a few days.