Sautéed Cauliflower

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 I discovered this on the search for a good, basic recipe for mashed cauliflower when flipping through Alice Waters' book The Art of Simple Food. Simple it is and delicious tossed Italian style with capers and chopped olives, an served over pasta.

This is tasty as a side vegetable or served as a pasta sauce, tossed with large noodles.

1 large head or 2 small heads of cauliflower
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt
Extra virgin olive oil

Clean the leaves from the cauliflower. Remove the base of the stem with a small, sharp knife. From the top down, cut the cauliflower into 1/4-inch slices. (If the cauliflower is large, cut in half for easier slicing.)

Heat in a heavy-bottomed pan over medium-high heat 2 tablespoons olive oil. Once the oil is hot, but not smoking, add the cauliflower and season with salt. Let the cauliflower sit until it starts to brown a bit before stirring or tossing. Cook, continuing to stir or toss until the cauliflower is tender, about 7 minutes total. Don't worry if the cauliflower starts to break up; that is part of the charm of the dish. Taste for salt and add more if needed.

Finish with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil

Variations:

• When the cauliflower is a minute or so from being done, add a couple of chopped garlic cloves and 1 tablespoon chopped parsley.
• Garnish with a handful of Toasted Breadcrumbs (page 63).
• A classic Italian dish adds the parsley and garlic along with chopped salt-cured anchovies and capers, hot chile flakes, and coarsely chopped olives. This is delicious on pasta.
• Sprinkle with fresh-ground cumin, chopped garlic, turmeric, and chopped cilantro during the last few minutes of cooking.

Mashed Cauliflower

Looks like mashed potatoes. Tastes like mashed potatoes. Not mashed potatoes. And a lot healthier for you!

I grew up eating cauliflower, usually stir-fried with pork Chinese style. I'm not sure if it was my Chicago-born and raised mother's idea, or my paternal grandfather's. But, I had never had them mashed. when I set my eyes upon the healthy, large, organic white cauliflower on sale at Whole Foods and tasted the mashed cauliflower with garlic and chopped parsley, I snapped up a coouple heads to mash for myself.

TherRecipe is simple:

Make your favorite mashed potato recipe, substituting cauliflower for potatoes. You can either steam or boil your cauliflower, cooking 20-30 minutes until tender to the fork. I used garlic, butter, milk, salt and pepper. I sampled some mashed cauliflower at our local Whole Foods last week. This one was prepared with garlic and chopped parsley.

For a vegan reiteration of this recipe, substitute olive oil for butter, and vegetable stock for milk. I ate mine with brown rice the first night and tossed with nooldels in the second. Mmmmm! cauliflower never tasted so good.