Cauliflower: Edible or No?

Confession: I've always disliked cauliflower. It reeks in the refrigerator crisper and reeks again when you cook it. And it doesn't taste like, well, anything, does it? Aside from my father, I don't know anyone who can honestly say that they like cauliflower.

Except for my husband. He likes cauliflower. Specifically, he likes his mother's cauliflower. I must say, I was pretty dubious. But my curiosity was piqued, and when I was visiting my in-laws once, I asked my mother-in-law to make it. My mother-in-law hails from Southern India, and she made cauliflower in the method she learned back home.

And guess what? It was delicious! Because cauliflower is such a blank canvas, it really sings when jazzed up with Indian spices. This wasn't any bland lump of white stuff--this was cauliflower with personality. A little aside: my MIL happens to be a veggie genius. Any vegetable she cooks, I like. Even the dreaded okra. I don't know how she does it, but she makes delicious vegetables every time. She's the Veggie Whisperer.

After that visit, I bought a few Indian cookbooks. I've learned a lot, and am still learning. This particular cauliflower curry isn't as simple as the one my mother-in-law made, but it's delicious. It's actually several recipes put together; I don't know how I came up with it, really. I think I was just fooling around one day and this was the result. We like it with basmati rice or warm naan* to soak up the luscious sauce.

My days of cauliflower boredom are over. If you like Indian food, I encourage you to give this a try!

Indian Spiced Vegetables
serves 4 as a main, 6 as a side

1 head cauliflower, cut into flowerets
1 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds (yellow or black)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (if you like it hotter, use 1/2 teaspoon)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
3 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup water
1 cup coconut milk
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 red bell pepper, sliced
2 zucchini, sliced
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Rice or naan, for serving

Heat oil and mustard seeds in a large skillet over medium heat until mustard seeds begin to sizzle and pop. Add onion, turmeric, cayenne, cumin and coriander and cook until onion begins to soften. Add salt, pepper and water and stir until combined. Add the cauliflower; toss until well coated with the spice mixture. Cover pan, reduce heat to low and steam 8 minutes, adding a little more water if mixture dries out. Add coconut milk and lemon juice; stir and re-cover. Cook 5 minutes more. Add bell pepper and zucchini; toss well and cook 4 minutes more. Top with cilantro and taste for seasonings.

*If you've never had naan, you need to. This Indian bread is Food of the Gods. And it ain't even fried. It's cooked in a screaming hot Tandoor oven and goodness, it's delicous. I think you could even wrap the M word in it and suddenly, it would taste good. It's impossible to make, but you can get it at Whole Foods or, oddly, I can get a bitchin' version of naan at my SuperTarget! No lie!

Born-Again Virgin! Umm, Sorta.

I'm a barley virgin. I know! To be over 40 and still a virgin at anything is an incredible feat! I've never cooked barley...thus, my virgin status.

Now I've eaten barley in vegetable soup, but that's been my only experience with it. And barley in canned soup is a mushy, tasteless mess. No wonder I didn't have any compulsion to expand my barley horizons.

But we're trying to eat more whole grains at Chez T., and barley is a terrific choice. It's full of fiber, has twice the protein of rice and, when made correctly, is nutty and slightly chewy and delicious.

My husband loved this side dish. Loved it. I think he even uttered a "wow" when he took his first bite. It takes a little longer to cook than rice, but it's worth it. The caramelized onions give it a rich, sweet depth and the mushrooms add satisfying heft. The peas and fresh herbs brighten the whole thing, and hey, who doesn't love a good scattering of nutty, salty cheese? The crunchy nuts on the top? Icing. We were smitten.

I served this to my husband as a side dish next to some grilled steak, but I went Veg-Head and just plopped my portion into a big bowl. Comfort food!



Baked Barley with Mushrooms and Herbs
adapted from Cooking Light Magazine
serves 6

1 tablespoon butter
2 cups chopped onion
1 teaspoon sugar
2 cups mixed dried mushrooms, put in boiling water to re-hydrate
2 cups sliced shiitake mushrooms
1 1/2 cups pearl barley
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
1/2 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped
4 cups vegetable broth, heated to a boil
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/2 cup toasted chopped pistachios or hazelnuts
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese


Preheat the oven to 350.

Melt the butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and sugar; stir well to coat onions in butter. Cover the Dutch oven, reduce heat to low, and cook 25 minutes or until caramelized, stirring often.

Meanwhile, pour boiling water over dried mushrooms. Soak, drain and slice.

Add fresh and re-hydrated mushrooms to Dutch oven. Increase heat to medium and cook until mushrooms begin to soften and brown slightly, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add barley, soy sauce, salt, pepper, thyme, rosemary and boiling vegetable stock. Stir well to combine.

Cover the Dutch oven and bake for 1 hour or until barley is tender but still pleasantly chewy. Let stand 10 minutes. Add peas and stir to heat through.

Sprinkle toasted nuts over the dish, toss to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste. Top each serving with a generous sprinkling of Parmesan.

Shrink-My-Ass-Month: Hummus and Grilled Vegetable Wraps

Sorry, carniverous beasts! It's a Monday (well, Sunday if you want to get technical) for the Meat Averse, so if the sight of a zucchini sends you shreiking for the hills, don them sneakers!

Growing up, I didn't really know any vegetarians. The first vegetarian I encountered was our neighbor, Jan. Her daughter was in my fourth grade class and Jan and Mama soon became thick as thieves. I still remember listening to them whisper and laugh in our living room, glasses of iced tea sweating in the afternoon heat. I also remember a few days later, opening a drawer in a living room cabinet and discovering the source of all that giggling: A dog-eared copy of The Sensuous Woman.

Even at the tender age of ten, I could tell that The Sensuous Woman was one of those books you read cloak-and-dagger fashion; naturally, I did just that. Armed with my trusty flashlight, I fled to the basement to see what that tempting, well-read tome had in store. Hoo-Boy!! Seriously ladies? Those women in the late 1970's had it going on. I came whizzing out of that basement a while later, eyes a-buggin.'

Jan was quite glamorous; she had luxurious red, thick hair and green eyes and was always tanned. She also had the slowest, most God-awful metabolism on the planet. I never saw her eat more than a few bites of food. One summer she abandoned meat entirely, subsisting on leaden, cardboard-colored pita pockets stuffed with avocado and wild, sprouty stuff that looked like hair. I watched her chew those concoctions slowly, amazed that she could gag it down.

Luckily for the Veggie Vixens of today, we no longer have to eat Bedrock Bread and shit that looks like hair. There's some lovely options nowadays and some are even easy-peasy. Which is what this wrap is. We like it for lunch but it's just as good for a light dinner or, if you are a freak like me, for breakfast (with a couple of potato chips stuffed in for salty goodness). Hey, don't knock it till ya try it.



Hummus and Grilled Vegetable Wrap
serves 4
from Ellie Krieger's The Food You Crave

2 medium zucchini, cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick-slices
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/8 teaspoon salt
pinch of freshly ground black pepper
1 cup store-bought hummus*
4 pieces whole-wheat wrap bread, about 9 inches in diameter, such as Flatout
1/4 cup pine nuts
2 jarred roasted red bell peppers, drained, rinsed and sliced
2 ounces baby spinach leaves or romaine lettuce leaves (2 cups lightly packed)
1/2 cup red onion, thinly slices into half-moons
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves

Preheat a grill pan over medium heat. Brush both sides of the zucchini slices with the oil and sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Grill until tender and slightly browned, about 4 minutes per side.

Spread 1/4 cup of the hummus over each piece of bread. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the pine nuts on top. Top with zucchini slices, red peppers, 1/2 cup spinach or romaine, a few onion slices and 1 tablespoon of mint. Roll each of them up and slice on the diagonal.

* You can use any kind of Hummus you like. Personally, I think the Sabra brand hummus kicks everyone else's ass.

Winter Veggie Blues?

I'm getting winter veggie burnout. I'm not big on squash, and broccoli gets old after a while, and all of the roasting vegetables (parsnips, carrots, butternut squash)...well, let's just say that I was tired of them in October.

I decided to tackle the Leaning Tower of Food Rags in my living room, specifically looking for recipes that would tempt my palate and relieve my veggie ennui. Because veggie ennui sucks.

I came across this recipe from Gourmet magazine (June, 2009) and was intrigued. I also was a little intimidated, because it's a bit time-consuming. Not time-consuming like lasagne from scratch--but still, this wasn't a 15 minute affair.

But then I thought about it. Maybe the reason I'm so bored with veggies is that I expect them to be quick and easy. I'll spend an hour making chicken saltimbocca, but veggies? I don't give them that kind of love.

And maybe that's the problem. Perhaps, if I took a little more time and care, my veggies wouldn't induce snoring. It was time for some Veggie Love around here!

I tweaked the original recipe a bit, because I thought this thing begged for cheese, and I wasn't disappointed. I didn't have bulgur on hand, so I used quinoa; it adds nice texture to the dish and ramps up the protein nicely.

So grab a knife and a fork and dig into one of these suckers. It'll do your body (and your tastebuds) good!

Bon Appetit and Happy Holidays, Veg-Heads!





Grilled Portabella and Bulgur Salad "Sandwiches"
from Gourmet Magazine, June 2009
serves 4

For Tomato Vinaigrette:

1 large garlic clove
1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon finely chopped rosemary
1/4 teaspoon hot red-pepper flakes


For Salad:

8 large portabella mushrooms, stemmed
1 small red onion, cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch thick wedges (keeping root end intact)
2 medium yellow bell peppers, quartered lengthwise
1 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise
1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups boiling hot water
1 cup medium bulgur*
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
2 1/2 oz baby arugala
1 firm-ripe avocado
~ Author's additions: 1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled and 1 jalapeno pepper, chopped

Make Viniagrette: With motor running, drop garlic into food processor and finely chop. Add tomatoes, parsley, oil, vinegar, rosemary, red pepper flakes, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and pulse until tomatoes are finely chopped but not pureed.

Make Salad: Gently scrape off gills from underside of mushroom using a spoon. With a damp paper towel, clean mushrooms. Toss mushrooms with 1/2 cup vinaigrette in a 13x9-inch glass baking dish. Let stand, turning occasionally, 20 minutes.

Brush vegetables with olive oil and season lightly with salt and pepper. Heat a grill pan over medium high heat. Add vegetables and grill, turning occasionally. Bell peppers take about 6-8 minutes; zucchini takes 6-10 minutes; onions take 8-12 minutes; mushrooms take 10-15 minutes.

Transfer mushrooms to a plate. Place remaining vegetables on a cutting board, cool, and chop coarsely.

While vegetables cook, pour boiling water over bulgur with 1/2 teaspoon salt and let stand until water is absorbed, about 5 minutes. ** I cooked 1 cup quinoa as per package directions and substituted it for the bulgur.

Add vegetables to bulgur with pine nuts and remaining vinaigrette and toss. If you want to add feta cheese, cool mixture slightly and mix in cheese (and jalapeno, if desired).

Place 1 portabella on each of four plates. Pack salad mixture into a 1-cup measure, then unmold on top of portabella. Top with arugala and another portabella, right side up. Serve with avocado.