Recently, I have had my socks knocked off by humble, nearly unadulterated cauliflower--twice. The first time, I roasted it, which I'd never done before, and was rewarded with tender, delicious, caramelized vegetable goodness.
The second time was Saturday night. I'd forgotten about last week's CSA cauliflower and had to use it, so I decided to steam and puree it. This is very easy: break a small head of cauliflower into florets and steam using a steamer basket or your other favorite method until very tender. You could boil them, too, but hang on to the water either way.
While the tender cauliflower is still hot, chuck half of it into the blender with about 1/4 cup of the steaming/boiling water and puree. Add the rest of the cauliflower and more water as needed (but not too much). Add about a tablespoon of good olive oil (or more) and puree again. The olive oil does this beautiful emulsification thing that greatly improves the texture. Sprinkle in salt, pepper, and curry powder (or other herbs) if you like.
The texture and flavor of this was incredible. Delicious, comforting, and super-duper easy. I realize dieters have known about pureed cauliflower forever. Don't let that scare you off.
Local co-op Mississippi Market has a few housemade treats that I get on a pretty regular basis: the vegan muffaletta, which is fresh and delicious, and the curried lentil-rice salad, which is full of curry goodness. I've been meaning to try my hand at replicating this recipe for ages, and I finally got around to it recently, with reasonable success. The main difference between mine and the co-op's is that mine was drier, even though I kept whipping up extra dressing and adding it in. I guess I'm condemned to buying and eating more of their salad in the service of stealing their recipe.
Curried Lentil-Rice Salad
1 cup rice
1 cup french green lentils
Half a head of cauliflower
1 red, orange, or yellow bell pepper, diced
3/4 cup currants
1/2 an onion, minced
3/4 cup cashews
Get the rice cooking and cook the lentils in a few cups of water until they are tender but not mushy. Break the cauliflower into little florets and lightly steam them--again, mush is not welcome here.
Then attack the dressing. Whisk together:
1/4 cup olive oil (the market's ingredient listing also uses peanut oil, but I didn't have any)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (or rice vinegar--again, didn't have any on hand)
1 tsp of good quality curry powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
A healthy plop or two of apricot fruit spread. In fact, eyeball all of these measurements, because I was completely playing it by ear. The dressing looked like this when I made it:
Dump the currants into the dressing to rehydrate a bit. Get to chopping your veg, if you haven't already. I also whisked the onion into the dressing, to mellow it out a little bit. When the rice and lentils are cooked and cooled slightly, mix them together with the cauliflower and bell peppers. Pour on your delicious dressing, add chopped cashews, and salt to taste.
It was imperfect, but I ate this every day for a week. Serve room temperature or cold.
Today has been one of those wildly productive Sundays where you get a bunch of things done that you maybe weren't planning on or expecting, necessarily. It turned out that most everything was kitchen-related and it has left me with the rosy glow of accomplishment AND a full belly.
First up, I set some pinto beans to soak for dinner and ate my standard breakfast of delicious steel-cut oats and black tea. Then I had to locate the nexus of a refrigerator stench that has been plaguing us. I traced it to some elderly refried beans, which tend to smell more like a diaper the longer they sit, and I cleaned out the entire refrigerator, including removing and scrubbing the shelves. The inside of the fridge is now so lovely and pristine that opening the door to look inside is an aesthetic experience.
Okay, maybe that's not such a good way to introduce you to my culinary prowess, but at least you now know that I am not cleaner or more efficient than you are in the kitchen, though I am working on it.
At some point midday I prepared a delicious lunch for my boyfriend (the Brit), made of the last of the artisan bread from the New French bakery, split and piled with the last of the tuna pasta sauce (a recipe for another time) and feta cheese and zapped under the broiler. I really need to start photographing these things. I also did prep chopping for tonight's soup, which you will only read about if it turns out well. I did the intermediate steps for today's batch of No-Knead Bread. And then I was hungry again and on a roll with the using up of leftovers and here is what I came up with.
Bootleg Aloo Tikki
Typically made with potatoes, onions, peas, and spices, these are delicious little Indian fritters. I had leftover mashed potatoes and like a quarter of a cauliflower head languishing in my crisper drawer, so that's what I used.
3 cups mashed potatoes
A wad of cauliflower, cleaned and diced fine
Olive oil
1 t of garam masala or curry powder
1/2 to 1 t ground coriander
1/4 t turmeric
1 inch of fresh ginger, peeled and diced
red pepper flakes to taste
2 green onions, white and light green parts and any green part that looks good, chopped up
1/4 c garbanzo bean flour, or bread crumbs, or get creative
Salt to taste
Chuck the cauliflower into a bowl with water to cover and zap in the microwave for a few minutes. In the meantime, heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a saute pan on medium heat and add the ginger and spices. Drain the cauliflower and add to the spice mixture with a few shakes of salt, and cook down for a few minutes, until any moisture has evaporated out of the pan. Add green onions and saute for another minute. Scrape every bit of this deliciousness into your mashed potato bowl and stir well to combine.
At this point you'll need to assess whether this mixture is too wet to fry up properly (it probably is). This is when you'll either remember that you have garbanzo flour in the freezer (if you are like me) or you'll think of something else to dry out your mix and make it a bit more like dough. Arrowroot powder would work, or a little straight-up flour, or bread crumbs--I didn't have a speck of bread in the house at this point. Mix your stuff on in and form your dough into little balls.
Heat another 3 T of oil into your frying pan and press the balls into a patty shape. Fry them on both sides at medium-high heat until they are golden and crispy. Pat off the excess oil with a paper towel and don't forget to take a picture.
I'm working on that, too.
