Fried Cauliflower and Onions

My friends, Susan and Kirk, are visiting from Portland. They joined me this fine afternoon when I picked up my veggies. As we were pulling out of the parking lot, Susan started talking about how she prepares cauliflower. She chops it into very small pieces, much smaller than the typical florets, and sautes them with finely chopped onions in olive oil until brown and somewhat crispy. She got this idea from the chef, Caprial Pence's, blog.

As we drove home, we riffed on the many delicious possibilities that this basic preparation might lead to. Tossing in some toasted pine nuts and finishing the dish with grated parmesan and chopped parsley sounds like a terrific side dish. Susan says that Caprial Pence mixes the cauliflower with pasta, like pappardelle, and adds some cooked and crumbled Italian sausage. What a wonderful main course.

Here's how I'm going to make this dish:

2-3 T olive oil
1 medium onion finely chopped
1 medium cauliflower, trimmed and chopped into approximately 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 C toasted pine nuts
salt and pepper to taste
2-4 T finely grated parmesan cheese
2 T chopped parsley

1. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat.

2. Add the onions and saute for 1 minute.

3. Add the chopped cauliflower and saute until brown and somewhat crispy.

4. Stir in the toasted pine nuts.

5. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

6. Sprinkle with grated parmesan and chopped parsley.

It wouldn't hurt to add a little heat to this dish in the form of red pepper flakes. Or you can go a different direction entirely and add raisins and a little finely grated orange peel. Whatever you do, have fun.

Here's what we had in our box this week:

From Underwood Family Farms: carrots, golden beets, Zintano avocado, broccoli, red leaf lettuce, French breakfast radishes, rainbow chard, lemon and butternut squash.

From Silver Lake Farms: arugula and mustard shoots.

From Rancho Santa Cecilia: those divine satsuma mandarins and Hass avocados.

And shareholder Debra brought in beautiful pink grapefruit. Thanks Debra!

Enjoy!

Shelley