Dinner Tonight: Cauliflower with Green Beans and Ginger
I wasn't much interested in the toasted cumin, the minced ginger, or the heat from the red pepper flakes. I picked this recipe mainly because of its similarities to another cauliflower dish I had made a year ago from the Babbo Cookbook. All the rest are incidentals. I wanted the nutty notes of sauteed cauliflowers balanced by sweet onions. Who cares if this recipe lost the pasta and added a whole bunch of other things?
I did get rid of the carrots because that would have meant that I would have to leave the apartment. I'm sure they would have added some nice color and sweetness to the proceedings, but I didn't miss it. Everything turned out all right. While I loved the cauliflower, the mutilated green beans were what surprised me the most. Thanks to the high heat, they got richly caramelized and just slightly blackened. Oh, and all those spices lend the dish a gorgeous fragrance that just added to the enjoyment.
Cauliflower with Green Beans and Ginger
- serves 4 -
Ingredients
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon yellow mustard seed
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 head cauliflower
8 ounces fresh green beans, ends snapped off
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon finely minced fresh ginger
Salt and pepper
Large pinch dried red chili flakes
Procedure
1. Toast the cumin seeds and yellow mustard seeds in a small skillet over medium heat until very fragrant. It should take just a few minutes.
2. Meanwhile, remove the florets from the base of the cauliflower. Chop into 1/2 inch pieces.
3. Pour the oil into a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook for about a minute. Then add the cauliflower and green beans and cook, without stirring for 4 minutes or until nicely browned. Stir, cook 7 minutes more, stirring occasionally. Turn the heat down to medium-low, and cook for another 3 minutes.
4. Add the garlic, ginger, red chili flakes and cook for 1 more minute. Season with salt and pepper and serve.
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5 Comments:
That looks amazing. It read very deliciously!
tonecapo at 4:57PM on 09/03/08
@Nick: When do you add the toasted cumin seeds and mustard seeds, with the garlic and ginger?
Summerfield at 6:52PM on 09/04/08
You leave them in the pan after toasting them.
suziq at 10:23AM on 09/10/08
okay summerfield, do you feel you got your answer? I am still confused, The way I see it, you cook the seeds in a little pan, and do everything else in a large pan, if you leave the little seeds in the little pan like suziq says, when do they go into the large pan, it is important because seeds have alot of flavor, and maybe they need to cook with the vegies,but maybe thats too much and they need to go in with the garlic and ginger? What does the original recipe say, Nick. Thanks, I am wanting to fix this soon, sounds great.
cocoloco at 12:28PM on 09/10/08
I didn't have any cumin seeds or mustard seeds...so I sprinkled it with ground cumin and tossed a teaspoon of Frenchs Yellow mustard in when I added the garlic, ginger and chili flakes...it was fabulous!!
pjacob01 at 4:26PM on 09/10/08