It's the first Sunday of the month and time for the Vintage Recipe Swap. When I saw that Christianna had chosen a pizza recipe for this month's swap, I was immediately consumed with thoughts of trying a new crust using my beloved cauliflower. Let's just say that it looked much more appetizing than it was. I have read many great reviews of cauliflower crust pizza, but while edible, this is simply not something that I would recommend as it was.
As I stared down the failed pizza, I knew that I didn't want to make a pizza. I did however want to do something with my favorite pizza flavors. Ham, pineapple, mozzarella cheese, these are some of my favorite toppings. The inspiration for this salad came from the Hawaiian pizza, but this salad stands on it's own.
The dressing for this salad is the main attraction. I loved the sweet freshness of the pineapple, with the tang from the balsamic and the underlying heat from the cayenne.
Hawaiian Salad
2 cups baby spinach leaves or lettuce of your choice
1 ounce slice of black forest ham, chopped into bite size pieces
1 ounce fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced or diced
1/8 - 1/4 cup fresh pineapple, sliced thinly and cut into bite size pieces
Pineapple Balsamic Salad Dressing
1 cup puree from fresh pineapple, this was 1/4 of a large pineapple
3 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
2-3 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup light flavor olive oil
pinch of salt
2 generous dashes of cayenne pepper, adjust to taste
Place the chunks of pineapple in the bottom of the blender. Puree until completely smooth. Add the vinegar, honey and oil. Blend until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pulse to combine. Pour into a glass jar and refrigerate. Shake well before serving. Enjoy!
Click here for printable recipe
Cauliflower pizza sounds interesting, never heard of it
ReplyDeleteYUMmy! I must admit I have not ever heard of cauliflower pizza crust and can't quite imagine it! However I am so glad you went down that road (bravo!) to land at this delicious salad recipe. My mouth is watering as I type and sadly I don't have all the ingredients to make this RIGHT NOW, which is when I want it. The dressing is fantastic. So original and unique. Will be serving that up very soon. Love this!
ReplyDeleteuna exquisitez refrescante que comería todos los días,una delicia,abrazos hugs,hugs.
ReplyDeleteI'm shaking my fist at you now, for I am going in a similar direction with my Wednesday recipe swap. Great minds think a like, DAMN YOU! :)
ReplyDeleteSeriously, this looks delicious. I love the flavors in your dressing. Although I no longer eat ham, I will sure be making this dressing!
Bravo for acknowledging the failed crust - though I have to say it sounds most intriguing. The salad is an perfect take on the swap and I can't wait to try the dressing. Wonderful recipe swap!
ReplyDeleteI'm interested in the cauliflower crust - is it gluten free? Enjoyed your post and can't wait to see what everyone else has done in the recipe swap.
ReplyDeleteShari from www.goodfoodweek.blogspot.com
Yes, the cauliflower ctust is a gluten free crust. Basically, cauliflower "rice" (shredded cauliflower) and cheese are mixed together and then baked. I'm not sure how you would adapt it without the cheese to help hold it together though.
DeleteCauliflower pizza crust is something I have never heard of. I think you salad was a better idea, this sounds wonderful.
ReplyDeleteit looks nice. i really wonder what it taste like.
ReplyDeletehehe your so funny but its really great i think :)
These sounds interesting & looks appetizing as well. And the pineapple & balsamic salad dressing sounds amazing! I'll surely try this salad dressing recipe. Have a lovely week ! :)
ReplyDeleteHow FUN! Using your favorite toppings to make a salad is really thinking outside the box! YUM!
ReplyDeletei want this salad now. and i'm interested in the cauliflower crust too. where did you find that. probably worth a pass through the test kitchen. did it have eggs? thanx
ReplyDeleteThe cauliflower crust did have egg whites in it. Although, with the cheese to bind it, that could probably be adapted to skip them. I might play with it in the future, but for now, I'm over it. If you are interested in the recipe I used, feel free to email me and I'll send you the link.
DeleteI love finding new salad dressings and this looks just lovely - what a great take on the swap!
ReplyDeleteThat pineapple dressing looks awesome!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite kind of pizza if hawaiian. But my favorite food is salad... so this salad is faaaaantastic! I love how you interpreted the recipe.
ReplyDeleteNow this is a salad I can wrap my head around. Looks delish and anything Hawaiian is right up my alley. Love it.
ReplyDeleteLove love love the pineapple dressing and how your favorite pizza translated into this totally inspired salad. Plus, I like how you created a totally different sweet/savory salad into something completely different.
ReplyDeleteAwesome! I'd love to use this as a glaze for grilled chicken.
ReplyDeleteWhy would you ever think that this is Hawaiian? Just because something has pineapple on it doesn't make it Hawaiian.
ReplyDeleteThe salad was merely inspired by my favorite ham and pineapple pizza. Ham and Pineapple pizza is frequently called a Hawaiian pizza. Authentic? Heavens no, but I enjoy both the pizza and this salad in their non-authentic states.
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