Cauliflower

Cauliflower was the last thing I developed a love for. I always thought of it as a washed out, sub par version of broccoli. But the beauty of cauliflower is its versatility.

I had to buy a very very large head of cauliflower. This was a big commitment. This means I'm going to eat many different cauliflower containing dishes. First up was a pretty classic Indian stir fry with cauliflower- I sauteed onions, garlic and diced carrots, and stirred in some spices. I added cauliflower in florets, stirred, and cooked covered for a surprisingly long time, somewhere between 20 and 25 minutes. Then, stirred in frozen peas and garam masala.

Next, I wanted to try a pasta dish from Fine Cooking- the recipe called for orrichette, roasted cauliflower and cherry tomatoes, and arugula. I really love doing this with pasta- adding tons of a really sturdy kinda vegetable so that the bulk of the dish comes from veggies, not pasta. Artichokes and zucchini are good for this. This dish was really good- I used spinach, because arugula seems to be illegal in southern Virginia, I used bacon instead of prosciutto because, come on, and I halved the cherry tomatoes even though they said to leave them whole. It was a good choice.

Tonight I made an Indian vegetable curry stew (I just love Indian when it's cold outside, and the high has been in the 30's). I basically just put in everything in my fridge- onions, celery, garlic, carrots in round slices, cauliflower, canned tomatoes, a diced potato, chickpeas, some leftover cooked collard greens and frozen peas. I might have gotten a little carried away, but with a little bit of chicken broth and lots of hot curry and cumin, it made a really amazing warm, happy winter stew.

With the rest, I'll either try a cauliflower gratin with tomatoes and parmasean and pine nuts, or I'll just roast it. Roasted cauliflower is amazing.