“Din”ner
9 Mar
The Din household has been in quite a dinner rut lately. This is because:
a. My picky family drives me crazy with their, “I don’t want to eat that because it’s chewy/it’s a vegetable/it’s green/it’s _____(feel free to fill in the blank).
b. Our refrigerator is perpetually empty. Even when I spend $100 at Trader Joe’s and return with at least 3 full bags of food, the fridge is still empty.
c. By the end of the day I am too tired to try to come up with some creative concoction that will appease all of our likes, dislikes, and food allergies.
This morning, however, I decided I was going to make a proper meal for a change since even I was starting to feel guilty for giving Maya hummus, pita bread, and apples for dinner again. After surveying the contents of our empty fridge, I was thrilled to find a package of cauliflower I’d randomly picked up on a recent trip to TJ’s. I figured I’d cook up some Aloo Gobi (Cauliflower with Potatoes) but the only problem was – and there is always a problem - that I had no potatoes or garlic, and while I was amazed to find an onion, Ali hates onions with a passion. He hates onions about as much as he hates Brooke Shields and her Latisse commercials. Trust me, that is A LOT.
So I randomly concocted the following recipe using what I had on hand/what I was allowed to use. I won’t pretend this is an authentic Indian dish and if my dad is reading this right now he is probably freaking out that I would even allude to this being an Indian dish, but it turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself.
Cauliflower with Peas
1 small cauliflower (I used the precut bag from Trader Joe’s)
1 cup of frozen peas
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon salt
1. Blanch the cauliflower in boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a nonstick pan, over medium-high heat.
3. Add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds, stir until they start sizzling.
4. Add the turmeric and mix all the spices together.
5. Stir in the drained cauliflower and sprinkle the salt on top. Stir until the cauliflower is well combined with the spices.
6. Turn off the heat and add the frozen peas. Cover for five minutes to allow the peas to defrost.
This would be even better with cilantro (which I didn’t have) and the forbidden onions (I wasn’t willing to risk a divorce over something trivial like dinner). Instead I cooked up some brown rice, added some Trader Joe’s Mango Chutney, and a dollop of plain yogurt. This really hit the spot.
Naturally Maya refused to eat it. “Peas are mushy Mama, and that cauliflower thing looks weird.” Talk about the highest compliment a chef can receive, right? I told her to work it out because that was what was for dinner. But even as I said it I was digging into the freezer trying to find something else to appease my skinny child.
When will I learn??
