| Not my beautiful Cauliflower, just a picture! |
I wanted to make a delicious meal for my bf, the Estimating Softballing Fishing Snake Wrangler (ESFSW). I had recently bought a beautiful cauliflower from the local Sunshineville's farmer's market and I was looking for recipes to use and I happened upon one from my current favor food blog: SK. It was also a plus that it was found under the heading Cumin Junkies! Yup I am one of those! So then what better to have with a cumin based dish but another cumin based dish, Radish and Mint Riata Salad.
Menu: Curried Cauliflower and Potatoes, Radish Mint Riata Salad and Flash Fried Steaks
Rough Recipe: Curried Cauliflower and Potatoes (Tweaked from Smitten Kitchen)
potatoes (cubed)
cauliflower (cubed)
vegetable oil (Tbs)
1 tsp cumin seeds
3/4 tsp salt
medium onion chopped
2 garlic cloves (diced or minced)
2 jalapenos (diced - include seeds)
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground corriander
1 tsp tumeric
1/2 - 1 tsp cayenne
* Note - I have at least doubled the spices. And if you want less less spice in your life (aka heat from the jalapenos), don't include the jalapeno seeds!
1) Pre-heat the oven to 425 F. Place a baking dish in the oven (I line the dish with foil for easier clean up afterward! You can also more easily drain the infused oils and incorporate them into the dish.)
2) Toss potatoes and cauliflower with some of the vegetable oil and all of the cumin seeds. Put in the hot baking dish and roast vegetables for 20 minutes
3) While vegetables are roasting, heat more vegetable oil in a large saute pan. Cook onions, garlic and jalapenos. Once they have started to soften add the spices and the salt. Mix well to incorporate. If the mixture is looking a little dry don't be afraid to add a little more oil. Also don't forget to take a moment and breath in the aroma! (while you continue to stir! Cooking purists would say it is best to use a wooden spoon for stirring here, but personally I am not that fussy!)
4) The cauliflower and potatoes should be done roasting at this point, so add them to the saute pan. (If you don't have a large enough pan just use a large pot! It is terrible to have a pan that is too small and as you try to stir and vegetables are spilling out on to your range!) Add 1/2 cup water. Stir and then let cook for 5 minutes covered. FYI don't be afraid to lift the lid to savor the aroma or stir to make sure the bottom of the pan isn't burning. Also don't be afraid to taste and add more spices if needed. Please note that if you pull the roasting vegetables out early they will need more cooking time. The 5 minutes are more of a general guideline (much like the Pirates Code).
1/4 cup English cucumber (de-seeded and chopped)
thinly sliced scallion
3/4 cup greek yogurt
1/2 tsp salt
Mix! Savor with the Cauliflower Potato dish!
Rough Recipe: Radish Mint Raita Salad (Tweaked from Sunset Magazine)
1 red onion (8 oz, aka 1 cup. or 1/2 lb) - slivered and soaked in cold water for 10 minutes
1/2 lb red radishes (trimmed and sliced thinly)
1 English cucumber (de-seeded and sliced thinly)
1 cup whole milk plain yogurt - even better! Greek yogurt
2 Tbs lemon juice (I usually double this and add in some zest because I love the lemon flavor, the additional liquid will make it more soupy so be sure the rest of the vegetables are really dry and use a really thick yogurt...like Greek!)
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup thinly sliced mint leaves
1. Make sure the onions are well drained...I usually wring them out with a paper towel (if you are being green use a towel).
2. Toss onions, cucumber and radishes together in a bowl. Draining any pooling liquid at the bottom of the bowl.
3. Mix yogurt, lemon juice, ground cumin, cumin seeds, pepper and salt. (At this point depending on my mood I may also stir in a little...wait A LOT of ground cumin to give it that extra kick. If you are not a self-profess Cumin Junkie or you are trying to kick the habit/addiction by all means just stick to just the seeds). Toss into vegetable mixture.
4. Chill for an hour - serve with mint on top. This salad will keep for a couple days, however will get more watery with each passing day as the radish loose the crisp crunch turning limp and lifeless, much like a poorly aging "fill in blank here" (can't risk offending!)
Rough Recipe: Flash Fried Steaks - See the previous post!
I didn't realize until afterward that pairing an Indian style curried dish with a steak is probably a BIG No No! But I SWEAR I was just trying to come up with a dish that was colorful. The color of cooked chicken or fish would have just blended in with the curried cauliflower and Mint Radish Raita Salad. So I chose beef...oops. I wasn't thinking! I must say though that the lemon flavor on the steak complimented the spiciness of the cauliflower dish and the radish salad. The leftovers where great as well, although the cauliflower and potatoes definitely got spicy the longer they sat in the refrigerator, which made the cucumber scallion raita essential!
PS. Stay tuned for what I did with the rest of the cauliflower including the greens!
