GRILLED CAULIFLOWER WITH PENNE PASTA
(click on title for link to recipe)
Why was I buying cauliflower in the middle of May? Yes, they were on sale at huge savings, but the purist in me felt I was rushing the season. What would I do with these unblemished, pearly white beauties? I simply pretended it was summer!
But my kitchen isn’t yet in warm weather mode. I hadn't purchased my pots of fresh herbs or a special olive oil for summer salads. Fortunately my pantry yielded a few choice ingredients: Colavita olive oil, dried herbes de Provence, capers, anchovies and garlic. Thus, I had the makings of an invigorating anchovy vinaigrette, one that would remind me of dining under the trees at La Colombe d"Or in St. Paul de Vence. (Fill in your own favorite Provencal setting here.)
Here’s the script. First, grill one head of cauliflower, in keeping with the season. Mini-heads coated with a mixture of olive oil and herbes de Provence cook quickly on a fine-mesh screen over an outdoor flame or on a cast-iron griddle. (The usual cooking methods - steaming, roasting, boiling - do not bring out cauliflower's caramelized sweetness.) To make a meal of it, I folded the vegetable pieces with whole wheat penne pasta before drizzling and tossing it with the vinaigrette.
CAULIFLOWER CRACKED WHEAT SALAD
(click on title for link to recipe)
There is actually no reason you even have to cook cauliflower - it’s a crudite staple. That is a curse for this vegetable, that easily trims to bite-size pieces, has a crunchy texture and a delicate, slightly mushroom aroma. I finely chopped both cauliflower and broccoli flowerlets then mixed them in a bowl with cooked cracked wheat. A small amount of hot curry powder and lemon juice was all it needed to become a tasty summer side-dish.
These two easy salads were my first foray into summer cooking. I now feel better prepared for whatever turns up unexpectedly at the grocery store next week.
