Tag Archives: lemons

Cauliflower Tagine

This healthy little dish is just that–healthy! Good for you! And wonderfully light on the stomach. It’s tasty and satisfying, and though it won’t blow the gourmet world away (no vapors of crawfish or fumes of foie-gras here), I would totally make it again, especially if I’m feeling heavy and bloated and need something that isn’t going to weigh me down. You feel good just looking at it, and with its lightly spiced tomato broth, topped with fresh cilantro and crunchy almonds, it’s a winner. Your taste buds may not dance the tango, but they will at least bust a couple decent moves, like the sprinkler. Or the shopping cart.

Originally from this recipe, here it is with my humble modifications:

Ingredients

(Serves 4)

2 TBS olive oil
1 large yellow onion
4 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 slices lemon
1 3/4 cups vegetable broth
2 14 oz cans fire roasted tomatoes
1 head cauliflower
3 carrots
1 15 oz can chickpeas
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 cinnamon stick
2 medium to large zucchini
Slivered almonds, to garnish
Fresh minced cilantro to garnish
Cooked couscous, quinoa, or rice to serve

Slice the onion and heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. When hot, add the onion . . .

. . . and sauté for 6-8 minutes, until starting to brown. Toss in the lemon slices.

Mince the garlic, and add it to the onions along with the cumin, ginger, bay leaves, salt and pepper.

 

Stir everything for a minute or two, then pour in the vegetable broth and tomatoes.

Break up or chop the cauliflower into florets, and chop the carrot into 3-inch lengths. Add the cauliflower, carrots, chickpeas (rinsed! Get that grody bean juice outta there!), raisins and cinnamon stick to the pot.

Bring it all to a boil, then lower the heat and cover the pot. Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Cut the zucchini into thick rounds, and add it to the pot. Continue to simmer (covered) for 10 more minutes.

And it’s done!

Isn’t it so beautifully colorful?

Toss the cinnamon stick into the garbage (pronounced gah-baaaaj by the way), and serve over rice, couscous, or quinoa, garnished with cilantro and almonds.

It tastes . . . simple. In a good way. Unpretentious, light, straightforward.

It’s not devoid of flavor, but lets the vegetables shine through in all their vegetable naturalness instead of covering them up with heavy doses of spice.

This tagine has no hidden agenda.

Make it! Or something.

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Tapas-Style Sautéed Mushrooms

I’d been oggling Bev’s recipe for sautéed mushrooms on Tasty Kitchen for a while, and finally got around to making them for a big group of friends back in February. And oh are they good. They do have a long cooking time–about 50 minutes–but require very little supervision, so you can let them cook away while you focus on the main dish you’re preparing. And once they’re done–oh my. Soaked in sweet wine flavor, pungent with garlic, brightened by the parsley and lemon juice and slightly crunchy with coarse salt. This dish reminds me of my deep love of food, and the pleasure of cooking what I truly enjoy to the very roots of my taste buds.

I modified it to serve a larger group, and used sliced baby bella mushrooms instead of the whole mushrooms Bev used–I also increased the cook time to make sure all the wine was absorbed by the mushrooms. Here goes!

Ingredients

(Serves 6-8)

32 oz baby bella and white mushrooms, whole or sliced
6 TBS Butter
8 cloves garlic
3/4 cup Marsala wine
2 pinches coarse salt (kosher or sea salt)
2 cups minced fresh parsley
1 lemon, juiced

Mince the garlic and parsley, and juice the lemon.

Melt the butter in a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat. When bubbly, add the minced garlic and bloom for about 30 seconds.

Add the Marsala wine and bring it to a boil.

Add the mushrooms, lower the heat and cook (covered) for 25 minutes, stirring and lightly salting occasionally.

Uncover and continue to simmer the mushrooms for another 25 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding salt to taste until the liquid has been almost completely absorbed. I also tossed in a little black pepper–I can’t resist that stuff.

After a while the liquid will be nicely absorbed and the mushrooms will now be ready for you to fall in love with them.

Toss in the lemon juice and parsley, sprinkle with coarse salt, and serve.

If you already love mushrooms, I guarantee you will love this way of making them.

Next time I’m alone for dinner I dream of making a huge batch and eating the whole thing myself.

Just want everyone to know where I stand.

A fun serving idea–you could bring the cast iron to the table with a bunch of skewers or forks and have everyone share the mushrooms directly from the pan. That would be very español.

And can I just say? I’m so glad to be sharing recipes again after such a long pregnancy-induced hiatus. Aaaaahhh.

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