One night I was trying out a vegetarian main dish and wasn’t quite sure how it would come out so I needed a stand-by, hearty side dish to fall back on in the event that it was a failure. Turns out the vegetarian loaf which included such ingredients as red onion, spinach, red bell pepper, boxed falafel mix, and goat cheese wasn’t all that bad. But this side was excellent. It’s got some heat to it, with the fresh ginger and chili, but you could certainly scale back on those a bit. It’s got lots of textures, sizes and shapes. I think that mushrooms would be a nice addition to this as well.
Ingredients:
1 head of fresh cauliflower florets
2 large or 3 medium-sized potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes
3 tbsps olive oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 large onion, chopped fine
2 tsps minced garlic
1 tsp minced ginger
2 tsps coriander
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp chili powder
2 large tomatoes, chopped finely
1 green chili, chopped
1 cup petite frozen peas
Salt to taste
Directions:
- Put potatoes & cauliflower florets in a steamer and par-cook for about 10 minutes
- Heat the oil in a deep, heavy-bottomed pan on a medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds and cook for a minute
- Add the onion and fry until soft, stirring often
- Add the ginger and garlic and cook for a minute
- Add all of the spices and cook for 1 minute
- Next add the chopped tomatoes and green chili, stirring well, and cook until tomatoes start to get soft (about 2-3 minutes)
- Now add the cauliflower florets, potatoes and peas. Stir well. Add salt to taste. Cover the pan and cook for 3-5 minutes. Turn off heat
J
Recipe adapted from a post on About.com
Philip Chapman-Bell
April 14, 2011 at 9:37 amWhen I worked in group homes, one of my most popular dishes was Awful Falafel Loaf, which started with a pound of ground turkey and a box of falafel mix. Low fat, high fiber, tastes a lot like meat loaf for folks who really shouldn’t be eating meatloaf.