Georgina Hayden’s quick and easy recipe for cauliflower, lentils and chorizo | Quick and easy

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Georgie Hayden's cauliflower, lentils and chorizo.
Georgina Hayden’s cauliflower, lentils and chorizo. Photograph: Kim Lightbody/The Guardian. Food and prop styling: Florence Blair. Food styling assistant: Phoebe Altman.

A roast veg salad packed with flavour and an intense dressing

The transformation that cauliflower undergoes in a very hot oven means there is now rarely a time when I don’t roast it first. Making cauliflower cheese? Roast, don’t boil – you’ll end up with a richer, potentially less watery finish. Soup? Absolutely roast it first – it is a gamechanger and almost feels insulting to boil it, because that doesn’t release its full potential. Here, roasting cauli with a few spices and paprika-laced chorizo is a dream, resulting in a salad or side that’s packed with flavour and creates its own intense dressing. It is the sort of dish I will make just for me, then proudly tub up leftovers for meals the following days. Your future self will thank you.

Cauliflower, lentils and chorizo

Prep 10 min
Cook 35 min
Serves 2 as a main, 4 as a side

500-600g cauliflower
½ tsp cumin seeds, crushed
1 tsp coriander seeds, crushed
Sea salt and black pepper
Olive oil
400g tin green lentils, drained
2 tbsp sherry vinegar
125g chorizo, chopped
40g almonds, roughly chopped
1 bunch spring onions, trimmed, white and green parts finely sliced
20g flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

Heat the oven to 240C (220C fan)/475F/gas 9. Trim the cauliflower, removing any woody leaves, then cut into even 4-5cm florets. Transfer to a baking tray, sprinkle with the crushed cumin and coriander seeds, add a good pinch of salt and some black pepper, then drizzle with olive oil and rub into the florets. Stir in the drained lentils and a tablespoon of sherry vinegar, then toss through the chopped chorizo.

Roast for 15 minutes, then remove, stir through the chopped almonds and roast for another 12 minutes, until everything is golden and the cauliflower is a little charred.

Meanwhile, toss the sliced spring onions and most of the parsley in a salad bowl, then add the remaining tablespoon of sherry vinegar.

When the cauliflower is ready, scrape everything into the salad bowl, including all the delicious paprika oil and any sticky bits from the bottom of the tray, and toss well. Taste and adjust the seasoning, then scatter with the remaining parsley and serve.