Recipe: Spicy Chickpea Stew with Roasted Cauliflower

Apartment Therapy recently ran a link to our tip about how to make fluffy couscous. One of the pictures in that story showed a spicy chickpea stew over the couscous, but with no details. Anyhow, folks over there were asking for the recipe, so we put it up over there as a guest post. I make this often for dinner parties because it is hearty, satisfying, and doesn't require any last minute cooking.

Recipe: Roasted Purple Cauliflower with Sherry Vinaigrette and Fried Capers

Yep, purple cauliflower. We were invited to a somewhat impromptu potluck the other day, and I was going to make an orzo gratin with a saffron cream sauce to use up the pasta from Thanksgiving, but then Sarina told me that the host was making pasta. I got off work at 2:45 and we wanted to leave for the party about 4:30, so I needed to find something I could put together relatively quickly. I ran by the closest grocery that has some decent produce, and saw four heads of this beautiful purple cauliflower that I had never worked with before.

On the drive home I started to think about what to do with it. I didn't want to do a gratin with cheese or cream because I wasn't sure what the pasta sauce was going to be. I love the flavor of roasted cauliflower and my mind was still going in a Spanish direction. That set me to thinking about capers, and then the famous fried capers in the Cafe Flora Caesar salad, and then I remembered I already had a nice vinaigrette in the refrigerator that I could add sherry vinegar to.

A plan was set in motion, and I ended up with the recipe below, which I think tasted good. It definitely had big flavor, and the purple cauliflower really retained its color. At serving time I garnished it with a lot of whole flat parsley leaves for contrast and a fresh herbal hit.

Roasted Purple Cauliflower with Sherry Vinaigrette and Fried Capers
Serves 8 as a side dish
Preparation time: 45 minutes
Vegetarian and vegan

• 4 heads cauliflower, preferably the purple variety
• 1 c. jarred roasted piquillo peppers or red peppers, sliced thin (or roast them yourself if you have the time)
• 1/2 c. small capers
• 1/2 c. canola or other vegetable oil
• 1 1/4 c.  top quality extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 c. sherry vinegar
• 2 T. lemon juice
• 4 cloves fresh garlic minced or pressed
• 1 c. homemade or bought breadcrumbs
• kosher salt
• pepper
• parsley

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees, and use convection if you have it.
2. Take apart the cauliflower into large bite sized florets. Up to you if you want to use the stem or not.
3. Toss the cauliflower with 1/3 c. of the olive oil and a few pinches of salt, and roast in the oven. You should use two pans, but one of them can be the one you will ultimately serve in. They will shrink a lot during roasting. Check and toss them occasionally. Roast until they are quite tender and have significant brown spots. You don't have the real roasted flavor until you see those caramelized bits.
4. Meanwhile, rinse the capers, dry them in paper towel, and carefully fry them in the canola oil. Watch out for spattering! Fry until quite dark but not burned, then remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel.
   
5. Make a vinaigrette in the usual way with 2/3 c. of the olive oil, the sherry vinegar, lemon juice, and half of the garlic. Season highly with salt and pepper.
6. Toss the breadcrumbs with 1/4 c. olive oil and the remaining garlic.
7. When the the cauliflower is done, let it cool for a few minutes. Add the capers and red peppers. Start tossing with the vinaigrette, a little at a time until you reach your preferred level of dressing. I'd like it to be highly flavored but not drenched. Taste and adjust salt and pepper.
8. Put back in a nice, broilerproof serving dish and cover with the breadcrumbs.
9. To serve, run under the broiler long enough to get the breadcrumbs nice and toasty, then garnish with lots of parsley.

Recipe: Delicata Squash Stuffed with Orzo in a Sage Brown Butter Sauce

Delicata Squash Stuffed with Orzo in a Sage Brown Butter Sauce

This is the vegetarian entree I brought to our family Thanksgiving celebration at Sarina's folks' house. It was based on an early version of an entree that my friend Kit was testing at Cafe Flora. The first time I had a bite of it, it just said "Thanksgiving" to me, with the warm flavors of squash and brown butter. Kit's final dish ended up with an intensely flavored tomato sauce with lots of orange zest, which is also fantastic. I chose to do this one with sage, pumpkin seeds, and dried cranberries to maximize the late autumnal flavors.

The recipe below calls for delicata squash, which is really nice to work with because it is relatively small and the peel is delicate and edible (thus the name). One half of a squash is a perfect entree size, or one quarter would be a good side dish. If you can't find delicata, you could use acorn or any other winter squash.

Full disclosure: I made this by guesstimating amounts and without writing anything down as I went, and I did 16 portions, so the recipe below isn't precise. But it should be close enough that you can fine tune it to your own preference. You can do most of this recipe a day or two ahead and just heat and garnish when you are ready to serve them. Don't be put off because the recipe has 12 steps, it actually goes together pretty quick.

Delicata Squash Stuffed with Orzo in a Sage Brown Butter Sauce
Serves 4 as an entree
Preparation time: 45 minutes
Vegetarian, vegan if you use olive oil instead of the brown butter, gluten-free if you omit the breadcrumbs and substitute a gluten-free pasta or other gluten-free grain for the orzo

• 2 delicata squash
• 10 T. unsalted butter
• 3 leaves fresh sage
• 6 oz. orzo pasta
• 1 T. lemon juice
• 1/2 c. dried cranberries, halved
• 1/2 c. pepitas (green, hulled pumpkin seeds - or substitute chopped almonds)
• 1/2 c. breadcrumbs (preferably homemade; not panko)
• handful of fresh pomegranate seeds
• italian parsley
• salt
• pepper

1. Carefully halve the squash, remove the seeds (a tablespoon or ice cream scoop works well), rub with oil and roast in the oven at 375 degrees until thoroughly tender. When they come out, rub the inside with a little butter.
2. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 8 T butter and allow it to keep cooking until it develops a nutty / caramel aroma and light brown color, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Taste (carefully), it should have a caramel flavor as well. If not, you haven't cooked it long enough.
3. While the butter is still hot, tear the sage leaves and add them in, allowing them to steep for awhile.
4. Boil the orzo according to package directions, being sure to leave it al dente.
5. Drain the orzo. Strain the brown butter, add the lemon juice, and toss with the orzo. You may not need all of the butter. If you have some left, try it on popcorn or brussel sprouts.
6. Toast the pepitas in a skillet, toaster oven, or oven until slightly browned and smelling good.
7. Add the cranberries and pepitas to the orzo.
8. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
9. Mound the orzo into the squash.
10. At this point you can refrigerate them for later use, or serve immediately.
11. To serve, sprinkle on a good layer of breadcrumbs and heat in oven. If reheating from cold, start covered with tinfoil and remove for the last few minutes.
12. Garnish with the parsley and pomegranate seeds, a good finishing salt (such as Maldon), and a grind of black pepper.

Note: an even better way to do this ahead would be to make the orzo mixture without the pepitas, and wait to add them and fill the squash just before heating. That way the pepitas will retain their crunch.