This easy cauliflower salad will brighten even the bleakest days

By Melissa Clark, The New York Times

Despite my best intentions, most of the roasted cauliflower I cook doesn’t make it past the sheet pan.

I always start out with a loftier goal, turning those sweet, caramelized florets into soup, or stuffing them into a pita, shawarma style — or, at the very least, putting them on a plate and maybe garnishing with some chopped herbs.

But then I’ll sample one or two, you know, for quality control. Before I know it, I’ve devoured half a sheet pan’s worth standing over the stove, snatching the golden, olive oil-slicked pieces one by one, fingertips burning. For a committed cauliflower admirer, a pan full of hot, roasted florets is just too seductive to resist.

For this recipe, I was determined to turn those lacy-edged pieces into a dish I could share.

The key was to assemble all the other components while the cauliflower was still in the oven. With everything else at the ready when the flor...