Sicilian Cauliflower Salad

This is an amazing and wonderful vegan rendition of giardiniera, adapted from a recipe presented by former Milwaukee, Wisconsin chef Sanford D'Amato in the 1993 The Burger Meisters, a cookbook project used to raise funds for the Culinary Institute of America (ISBN 978-0671865382).  Our principle alteration of the original recipe is by using white wine vinegar, which does not turn all the vegetables pink as does red wine vinegar.  Once the giardiniera is made it can be refrigerated for up to a week, with the vinegar in the marinade helping keep the salad fresh.  We recommend that you consider using a mix of various carrot colors, as this gives the salad a wonderful appearance.  We used orange, yellow, and purple in the above pictured batch and would have also used white if they had been available. 

2 cups water
2 cups white wine vinegar
½ cup sugar
8 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
3 bay leaves
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 sprig fresh rosemary
8 allspice berries, crushed
6 whole cloves
1 tablespoon black peppercorns, crushed
1 teaspoon kosher salt
4-6 cups cauliflower florets
1 cup thinly sliced carrots
½ cup red onion, diced
½ cup red bell pepper, cut into thin slices
½ cup pepperoncini, stemmed and cut into thick wedges
2 tablespoon capers
1 cup brine-cured Sicilian green olives, pitted and chopped
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
½ cup thinly sliced fresh basil leaves
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. 

Prepare marinade by heating water, vinegar, sugar, garlic, bay, thyme, rosemary, allspice, cloves, pappercorns, and salt in a 4-quart stainless steel pot over high heat.  If fresh thyme and rosemary are unavailable, use 1 tablespoon dry leaf for each.  Bring to a boil.  Remove from heat, cover, and let steep for 30 minutes.  Strain out solids by pouring through a small-mesh sieve.  Press on the solids to release as much of the liquid as possible.

Return marinade to saucepan.  Add in the cauliflower, carrot, onion and bell pepper.  As soon as the liquid boils, remove from heat.   Add in the pepperoncini, capers and olives.  Mix well and cool to room temperature.  If you have more vegetables than the marinade can cover, simply divide the vegetables in two, reserving and reusing the marinade for the second batch.

Drain marinade from vegetables.  Place drained vegetables into a non-reactive bowl and mix in the olive oil and basil.  Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately. 

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