7.19.2006

Roasted Cauliflower with Curry & Paprika; Israeli Couscous with Currants, Golden Raisans & Pinenuts

cauliflower

Roasted cauliflower with spices is so easy to make and so affordable. You get a great bang for your buck with this flavorful dish. First you cut off the florets, toss it with olive oil, cumin, coriander, curry, paprika, and a teeny bit of black pepper. The roasted it with wedges of onion and little knobs of butter. I like it when the floret edges get really and carmelized and charred. The above picture does not show such carmelized edges - waahh. Broiling for a few minutes could have worked that out though.

To go with the roasted cauliflower I made Israeli couscous. I sauteed some shallots and then added water to this. Brought it up to a boil, added the couscous, and cooked it covered until the water had been absorbed. Alternatively, you can cook the couscous in more water then drain it. To the cooked couscous I added dried currants, raisans, parsley, black pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil. The sweetness from the currants and raisans in the couscous paired up well with the spiced cauliflower. I really enjoyed the texture of the Israeli couscous, so much more than Moroccan couscous which is the only couscous I knew until I made this one.

papayalimesoupshooter

Marilyn's dessert: Papaya Lime Soup Shooter

A catered menu for www.writingpad.com

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Israeli couscous was probably my most favorite Writing Pad dish so far, and the entire class was simply RAVING about it. Something about how those little balls remind me of tapioca pudding (which I ate to infinitum as a kid) made it pure comfort food. The soup shooters were amazing as well--the perfect slurp of sweetness!

susan said...

hi nana-kins! :) i'm glad you liked the israeli couscous. the size of the little balls was pleasing to both the mouth and the eyes. just a perfect size somehow.

do you know how to make tapioca pudding by any chance? i have tapioca balls at home that i tried to cook once and miserably failed.

Anonymous said...

"do you know how to make tapioca pudding by any chance?"

are you kidding?! i am a nightmare in the kitchen. my culinary skills are non-existent. the only thing i seem to be able to make is steamed egg. steamed egg with canned corn, steamed egg with asparagus, steamed egg over rice...

susan said...

hi nana-kins,

then how do you make steamed egg?? :)

i know how to make korean steamed egg. add little water and scallion, then steam in pot. is that similar?

Anonymous said...

My "recipe" was taught by my friend Tricia, whose Chinese mom learned it from growing up in Japan, so it's kind of a hybrid, I guess. It's a mixture of 3 eggs, a can of vegetable or chicken stock, a little bit of oil, lots of soy sauce, pepper, thrown in a bowl and placed in a boiling pot of water to steam. It's the lazy person's meal, but really good and satisfying!