Easy Mediterranean Roasted Cauliflower Salad

Although I’m an full blooded Italian I crave, like nobodies business, Mediterranean flavors. Not surprisingly as they are pretty similar.

I never grew up eating black olives, it was always green with pimentos, Kalamata and flavors of Greek salad. We always had red onion, fresh tomatoes and of course fresh parsley in our house and in our meals, at least a few times a week.

Everything, and I mean most everything, was topped with olive oil. My mom rarely made much with butter, except every lazy Sunday night like clock work she would make me and my three brothers the best grilled cheese sandwiches in all the land!

 It’s a great option for those on a keto diet with just 6 g net carbs. 

Now that I’m on a low carb diet, I love using raw cauliflower in unique ways, hence the creation of this salad. While most cauliflower salad recipes are more of a mock potato salad style, this one has that European flare! 

Mediterranean Salad Recipe

A squirt of lemon was always added to our typical fish dinners on Friday nights. As a child I could never quite understand why my dad was so in love with adding lemon.

But then I grew up and I realized how much lemon makes such a difference in some of my favorite recipes and especially keto salads!

I never grew up eating feta cheese either, but the flavors when mixed with fresh roasted vegetables are undeniably delicious in this Mediterranean cauliflower salad. Obviously you can eliminate the feta cheese if your dairy free.

Keto Potluck and BBQs

The oven-roasted cauliflower in this lovely dish has so much flavor, it’s perfect as it is. It’s a fantastic healthy option side dish to bring to a potluck or serve at a summer BBQ party. 

Make the lemon dressing ahead with fresh herbs and the flavors will be even better the next day! If you’re not a fan of cauliflower you could even swap it with roasted broccoli, green beans, red peppers or Brussels sprouts. 

It’s very versatile and everyone, even the non low carb crowd will devour this lovely cauliflower salad. Other potluck salads you might like; Cauliflower Mock Potato Salad, Spring Roll Salad, Cucumber Dill Salad, and Summer Confetti Cauliflower Salad. 

Roasted Cauliflower

If you’re not a fan of red onion of course you can leave it out. If you prefer different olives or another veggie please adapt as you think your family would enjoy. 

Roasting all veggies with some good quality extra virgin olive oil and seasonings is how this low carb recipe gets amazing flavors! 

It’s one of my families most favorite ways to enjoy all kinds of vegetables when I roast them. I know you might be tempted to skip the roasting step, but please trust me on this, you shouldn’t skip it because cooked cauliflower that’s been roasted is so much better than raw.

I will say it again, one more time,  YOU MUST NOT LEAVE OUT THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP for this salad. The large florets NEED to roast.

The flavor of roasted cauliflower is beyond amazing and so much tastier than adding it raw in this salad. While you’re at it, you could make this a double batch and freeze in individual portions for an easy way to meal plan ahead!

Can I use Cauliflower Rice Instead?

If you really don’t want to roast the cauliflower florets for this cauliflower salad recipe, you could use cauliflower rice. I would recommend grating a fresh head of cauliflower using a food processor.

I think fresh is best because frozen cauliflower rice tends to hold a lot of moisture and will water down the flavors of the dressing.

I Don’t like Lemon what else can I use?

If you’re not a fan of lemon dressing, you can swap it with the same amount of red wine vinegar. 

Make this a Main Course

An excellent choice to increase protein for this vegetarian salad is to add some cooked grilled chicken, or grilled steak tips or even canned tuna or canned salmon will work for a complete meal.

Just 6 g net carbs per serving for just the salad as is. If you add protein to make it a main dish, you will need to add the nutritional amount to what you see below on my printable recipe card. 

More Low-Carb Recipes for Easy Salads

Mock Cauliflower Potato Salad recipe

Greek Salad

Goddess Green Salad

Cucumber Dill Salad

Avocado Tomato Salad

Tomato Olive Salad with Balsamic Reduction

Caprese Zucchini Noodle Salad

​Antipasto Cauliflower Rice Salad

Easy Mediterranean Cauliflower Salad

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Mediterranean Roasted Cauliflower Salad

This easy keto Mediterranean Cauliflower Salad is the perfect side dish complementing any main entree or serving as a vegetarian Mediterranean dish full of low carb vegetables and gluten free too!

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour

Servings 6 servings

Calories 227kcal

Author Brenda Bennett | Sugar Free Mom

Ingredients

• 4 cups cauliflower florets
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes sliced
• 1/4 cup red onion sliced
• 1/4 cup kalamata olives
• 4 ounces feta cheese crumbled
• 1/4 cup fresh basil chopped

Dressing

• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 lemon zested
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• Lay cauliflower florets on a baking sheet.
• Toss with 3 tbsp oil and stir to coat well.
• Bake 45 minutes. Set aside to cool.
• In a large bowl add the cooled cauliflower, tomatoes, onion, olives, feta and basil.
• Whisk the dressing ingredients together in another bowl.
• Toss the dressing over the cauliflower salad and mix well.
• Serve immediately or keep refrigerated in an airtight container until ready to serve, up to 3-4 days.

Video

Notes

This recipe was first published in May 2015 and updated with video in June 2019.

Net Carbs: 6g

Nutrition

Serving: 1cup | Calories: 227kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 16mg | Sodium: 515mg | Potassium: 285mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 275IU | Vitamin C: 42.7mg | Calcium: 117mg | Iron: 0.7mg

The post Easy Low Carb Keto Mediterranean Cauliflower Salad appeared first on Sugar-Free Mom.

Kale is becomingly increasingly popular and for good reason. It’s a wonderful green full of healthy benefits. Kale chips has been the most popular way to enjoy them but more and more you will be seeing raw kale used in salads.

This salad is a twist on a salad a friend of mine made for a party years ago, except she used a mix of salad greens and a bottled dressing. I always remembered enjoying the flavor of pear and blue cheese together. Super yum!

I decided to try raw kale in place of romaine. I love kale in my smoothies and cooked as well. Raw as a salad, I was a a bit skeptical and not sure how my stomach would react. Surprisingly I must say, no issues, actually better than when I just use romaine lettuce!

You will notice the salad is high in fat, but that is coming mostly from healthy olive oil and the walnuts. I found reduced fat blue cheese and my local supermarket. I could have decided this salad up to serve 6, but if you want it as a main dish, it’s a hearty salad for 4, hence the higher calories and fat. The hubby and I enjoyed it for two days!

Other Kale recipe you might enjoy:

• Kale Bacon Stuffed mushrooms
• Kale Feta Portobello Stuffed Mushrooms
• Pork and Kale Piccata

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Raw Kale Pear Blue Cheese Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Calories 410kcal

Author Brenda Bennett

Ingredients

• 6 cups chopped packed raw kale stems removed
• 2 scallions chopped
• 2 pears with skin chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese light
• optional: Garlic Parmesan Gluten Free Croutons 1/2 cup dried cranberries, fruit juice sweetened (found at Whole foods)
• Dressing
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon Dijon or regular mustard
• pepper to taste

Instructions

• In a large bowl toss together all ingredients.
• In a small bowl whisk dressing ingredients and combine with kale and fruit.
• Top with croutons if desired!

Notes

Weight Watchers PointsPlus: 9*

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 410kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 30g | Cholesterol: 15mg | Sodium: 85mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 10g

The post Raw Kale Pear Blue Cheese Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette appeared first on Sugar-Free Mom.