Coronation Cauliflower

Coronation chicken is a classic British salad using poached chicken, mayonnaise and curry powder. If you're upping your veggie intake, this version replaces chicken with roasted cauliflower and is no less delicious. In fact I loved it so much I would consider it a pushy recipe Dear Reader!

I love this salad because of the creamy dressing, spices from the curry powder and light sweetness from the apricots. It's the perfect picnic dish too. It made its debut at Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953 and was the idea of florist Constance Spry and chef Rosemary Hume. They were catering for a banquet to celebrate the coronation and was said to be inspired by the Jubilee Chicken which was made for the Silver Jubilee of George V in 1935. And in a more modern take chef Heston Blumental created a dish called Diamond Jubilee chicken to celebrate Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee in 2012. It also makes for a delicious sandwich filling.

I think this Coronation Cauliflower looks most chicken like if you don't use the stems but I love the stem part of cauliflower so I would never suggest throwing it out. Just eat it in a salad separately or do as I do and nibble on it while you're cooking. Or just use it and don't worry if it looks like Coronation Chicken or not!

Looking for other cauliflower recipes? I LOVE cauliflower so I have lots of recipes for it. Crispy Korean "Fried" Cauliflower, Cauliflower Steak With Creamy Mushroom Sauce, Low Carb Gluten Free Cauliflower Base Pizza, Cauliflower & Chicken Salad, Butter Cauliflower, Cauliflower "Hot Wings" With Blue Cheese Sauce, Cauliflower Cheese & Bacon Toasted Sandwich {Grain Free}, Cauliflower & Spiced Lentil Salad, Low Carb & Low Cal Cauliflower Fried "Rice", Crispy Baked Cauliflower Cheese Bites, Crispy Topped Cauliflower Macaroni Cheese, Quick & Easy Cauliflower With XO Sauce and The Bondi Cauliflower & Quinoa Salad.

Speaking of coronations, I've also been stuck in a bit of a tv rut lately. I haven't been able to find anything good to watch and I definitely need something distracting to watch because December is a really busy month.

I've started about a dozen shows and after 20 minutes stopped them all. I did start watching The Crown just to see the Princess Diana episodes but I must admit that I skipped the rest. Another tv show I really like is The Flight Attendant which is a murder mystery. But other than that I haven't found much else to watch so if you have any recommendations I'd love to hear them!

So tell me Dear Reader, what are you watching that you absolutely love? Have you ever tried Coronation Chicken or Coronation Cauliflower?

Coronation Cauliflower

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

• 1 cauliflower, cut into florets
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 1/2 cup/125ml/4flozs. mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup/125ml/4ozs. natural Greek yogurt
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup/75g/2.6ozs. finely chopped dried apricots
• 1 tablespoon apricot jam
• Salt and pepper to season
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Step 1 - Preheat oven to 200C/400F and line a baking tray with parchment. Place cauliflower florets on the tray and drizzle with oil and roast for 30 minutes or until caramelised (I had room on the tray to roast some kalettes too). The exact time depends on how big you've cut the florets so if you're in a hurry cut them smaller.

Step 2 - Meanwhile mix the mayonnaise, yogurt, curry powder, mustard, dried apricots and jam together to form a smooth dressing. When cauliflower is roasted and cooled, mix with the dressing and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with chives.