I have a somewhat checkered past when it comes to cauliflower. In my childhood, frozen bricks of the vegetable were boiled for hours, then topped with Velveeta cheese sauce – with pimentos, if we had company at home. Things have looked up since. I have learned to mostly like it steamed, in a stir fry, in gratins (bread crumbs help), and even in raw chunks on those ubiquitous vegetable platters served with an unknown white creamy dip at offsite meetings.

This week’s way to serve cauliflower is my favorite of all. It could also work with broccoli, or a mix of cauliflower and broccoli. Beautiful small heads of cauliflower were on display at the Happy Boy stand at our hospital’s farmers’ market last Friday. Three of them made enough of this dish for at least four people.

3 small heads of cauliflower or 1 large head, cut into ½” florets
1/3 large red onion, thinly sliced
2 large pinches crushed red chili flakes
4 cloves garlic, minced
Juice of ½ small lemon
2 splashes of red wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
3 tablespoons olive oil

Heat the olive oil in a skillet. Sauté the cauliflower until it starts to soften. Add the red onion and chilies. Continue to cook until the cauliflower starts to brown a little. Remove from the heat. Toss with the garlic. Splash it with the lemon juice and red wine vinegar. Season with salt and pepper and serve. This is a wonderfully simple and vibrant dish. Try it.

Serves four to six

1 Comment Posted Post a comment below

Betty said...

I tried your recipe and it was excellent. I also tried it raw and discovered that cauliflower has a good flavor by itself.

I plan to try other recipes.

POSTED: June 11, 2008 05:28 PM

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