Trim the leaves and the very bottom of the stem from your cauliflower, then whack the whole thing into ½” chunks. Put ’em in a microwave steamer or a microwaveable casserole with a lid, add a few tablespoons water, and microwave for ten minutes, or until tender but not mushy.
In the meanwhile, dice your peppers and onion and mince your basil.
Put your pine nuts in a dry skillet and shake or stir them over low‑medium heat until they’re touched with gold. Remove from the heat!
Okay, by now your microwave has beeped. Uncover the cauliflower and drain it, then let it cool a bit while you…
Put the vinegar, olive oil, garlic, mustard, sesame oil, cumin and cayenne in your blender, and run it until it’s smooth and well‑blended.
When your cauliflower is cool enough that it won’t cook the other stuff, combine everything in a big mixing bowl. Pour on the dressing, and toss it all together till everything is evenly coated. Salt and pepper to taste, then add the pine nuts and stir them in, too.
At this point, you can refrigerate your salad for several hours, or even overnight.
When serving time rolls around, pull out your salad and let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes while you…
Peel and dice your avocados. Very gently toss the avocado dice into your salad and serve.
If you don’t think you’re going to eat all the salad at once, don’t peel and dice all your avocado at once. Instead, pile your servings on plates – line ’em with lettuce first, if you like – and dice just enough avocado to put a generous