Cauliflower Jalapeno "Rice"

It’s hard for me to imagine how people came up with new recipe ideas before the internet. I suppose it was a combination of word of mouth and flipping through cookbooks, and while those methods certainly are still useful today, I for one would have a much less varied repertoire if not for Google. The best is when I have an ingredient that needs to be used; the cauliflower from week 10 in this case, but no idea what I want to do with it. In this case I added one item from week 11 to see what came up. Cauliflower + jalapeno then scroll through the results until something catches my eye, and catch it this one did! Let me tell you, after one bite of this cauliflower rice it immediately became my (and my wife's) favorite way of cooking cauliflower. The texture of the final dish is surprisingly similar to actual rice, but with added flavor of the cauliflower, which really reacts well to letting it brown and crisp up a bit on the bottom of the pan. Combine that with the added nutrients that cauliflower has (compared to pretty much nothing for white rice) and welcome to the regular rotation! The next step will be getting our daughter to eat it, which will be much easier if I make a batch isn't full of jalapeno...

Adapted from The Roasted Root.

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Cauliflower

Jalapeno

Ingredients
1 head cauliflower, grated
1/4 cup minced shallot

1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
1 tbs fresh ginger, grated

1 tsp olive oil
3/4 cup canned coconut milk
1/2 tsp ground cumin
Salt and pepper

Preparation

Remove any leaves from the cauliflower then chop it into quarters. Using a box grater or the shredding disk on your food processor, grate all of the cauliflower. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat and then add the shallot and jalapeno. Saute for 3-4 minutes until the shallot is starting to brown. Add coconut milk, ginger and cumin and stir until the mixture comes to a boil. Add the cauliflower and mix to combine. Turn the heat up to medium high and cook, stirring occasionally until the cauliflower starts to brown in spots. Don't be afraid to let a little crust form, you'll be rewarded with great flavor! Season to taste with salt and pepper then serve immediately as a side to any dish you would normally use rice with, you will be surprised how similar it is in texture and flavor.

Roasted Romanesco Broccoli with Olives and Chickpeas

"So, what should we do with our (insert vegetable here) tonight?  How about roasting them?  That's a good idea, I'll just toss them with some olive oil, salt and pepper and......zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"

Sound familiar? Yeah, I know...the roasting rut.  While you can't beat roasting as a simple way to get great flavor out of most vegetables, it can get a little monotonous.  Salt, pepper, oil, maybe some garlic or a few herbs. Always a reliably good result, but I was looking for a way to change things up a bit and try some new flavors.  My weekly CSA share typically includes a flyer with a couple recipes and in this week's flyer had the inspiration I'd been waiting for.  Adding olives and chickpeas to the mix injects two strong and unique flavors to the dish that compliment the vegetables nicely.  A real winner that received a lot of compliments at the dinner party we brought it to. The recipe below was adapted from the one I received with the share.

A quick note about the romanesco broccoli.  It tastes pretty much exactly like cauliflower, so since it can be hard to find, you can simply double the cauliflower (maybe find a purple variety for a nice color contrast) or use regular broccoli, which would give you a little more taste variety.

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Romanesco Broccoli

Cauliflower

Ingredients
1 lb romanesco broccoli
1 lb cauliflower
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 14oz can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
3 tbs olive oil
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Chop the romanesco broccoli and cauliflower into bite sized florets. Wash and drain well and then toss together in a large bowl with all the other ingredients. Transfer to a 9x15 baking dish and roast in the oven until the florets are tender and browned around the edges. About 30 minutes.

Chicken with Spiced Yogurt Sauce and Roasted Cauliflower

Where would all us cooks, amateur and professional alike be without spices? Can you imagine a world without them? Cinnamon, cumin, pepper, turmeric, coriander, mustard, the list goes on and on.  If they all disappeared our culinary world would certainly be a sad, bland place and many cuisines would be unrecognizable.

Indian food would arguably suffer the most in such an alternate reality. The way spices are mixed, rubbed, sprinkled and infused into every corner of an Indian dish is truly an art form in itself when done well.  To duplicate (or at least approximate) at home the flavors found at good Indian restaurants is not all that difficult.  A well stocked spice drawer is all you need, well, that and the willingness for your house to smell like an Indian restaurant for a several hours after dinner is over, which in my opinion is not such a bad thing.  The recipes below make use of many of the most common spices found in Indian food and little else, so you really get a good example of how powerful these colorful powders can be.

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Cauliflower

Roasted Cauliflower (adapted from Bon Appetit)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon curry powder

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 large head cauliflower
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon finely grated peeled ginger

1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
Chopped parsley for garnish

Preparation
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Core the cauliflower and then break apart the florets into bite sized pieces. In a large bowl, combine the olive oil and all the spices, then add the cauliflower, season with salt and pepper and toss to give the florets an even coating of spice mixture. Line a large sheet pan with foil (for easier cleanup) and arrange the cauliflower in a single layer, then roast for around 15 minutes or until the edges have started to brown. Transfer to a large plate or serving bowl and sprinkle with the parsley, lime zest and ginger before serving.

Chicken With Spiced Yogurt Sauce (adapted from Mark Bittman)
2 tbs olive oil
2 pounds chicken legs, skin on (drumsticks and/or thighs)
1 medium onion, sliced
1/2 tbs chopped garlic
1/2 tbs grated fresh ginger
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
Salt and pepper
1 cup plain yogurt

Preparation
Put the oil in a large saute pan with a lid  and heat over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, skin side down, and brown it well, rotating and turning the pieces as necessary to brown all sides.  You may want to use a splatter screen for this step, or at least wear an apron.  When done, remove the chicken to a plate and add the onions to the pan.  Cook for around 5 minutes until the onions have started to soften and then add all the spices, the garlic and ginger.  Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring for another minute.  Stir in the yogurt and then put the chicken back into the pan. Cover and reduce the heat to low simmer and cook, turning the chicken occasionally until cooked through, around 15 minutes.  Serve over rice with the roasted cauliflower on the side.

Sicilian Pasta With Cauliflower

Pasta is a staple in our house, showing up on our table at least twice a week in some form.  For that reason, I am always on the lookout for new sauces or methods of preparation to keep things interesting.  As good as bowl of spaghetti marinara is, even that gets tiresome if eaten too often.  Cauliflower is a great accompaniment to pasta, and I often use it with cheese based sauces, but with the weather getting warmer my appetite craves something lighter.  The recipe below got my attention because in addition to the cauliflower, it made use of a couple other items I needed to use; the anchovies (left from last week's Cesar salad) and the fresh tomato from this week's share.  Best of all, the other flavors in this dish come from sources not based in dairy or oil.  Saffron, garlic, pine nuts, basil and raisins make for an amazing result.

I found the recipe for this dish in the New York Times dining section.  It has been tweaked a bit below to utilize ingredients I had on hand.

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Cauliflower
Tomato

Ingredients:
1/4 cup golden raisins
Pinch of saffron threads
1 medium cauliflower, about 2 pounds, cut in to small florets
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 anchovy fillets, rinsed and chopped
1 lb fresh tomato, chopped
3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
Salt and pepper to taste
3/4 pound spaghetti
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons slivered basil

Preparation:
Place the raisins in a small bowl and cover with warm water. In another bowl combine the saffron with 3 tablespoons warm water. Let both sit for 20 minutes while you prepare the other ingredients.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt generously. Add the cauliflower and boil gently until the florets are tender, about 7 minutes. Remove the cauliflower from the water (leaving the hot water in the pot), transfer to a bowl of cold water until cool and then drain. Cover the pot and turn off the heat. You will cook the pasta in the cauliflower water. Take any large florets and cut them into small florets or crumble coarsely using your hands.

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large, heavy skillet and add the garlic. Cook, stirring, until it smells fragrant, about 30 seconds to a minute, then add the anchovies and tomatoes. Turn the heat down to medium-low and cook, stirring often, until the tomatoes have cooked down and smell fragrant, about 10 minutes. Drain the raisins and add, along with the saffron and its soaking liquid, cauliflower, pine nuts, and about 1/4 cup of the cooking water from the cauliflower. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover, turn the heat to low and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Keep warm while you cook the pasta.

Bring the cauliflower water back to a boil and cook the pasta. Transfer the cooked pasta to the pan with the sauce along with 1/4 cup of the pasta water (or more if the sauce seems too dry). Toss together with the Parmesan and basil leaves and serve.