Kitchen 11X11

Roasted Curry Cauliflower

I am a real Indian food fanatic and, always looking for ways to incorporate the wonderful rarray of spices that make up Indian cuisine. I discovered this dish at an Indian buffet a few years ago. Typically a variety of vegetables such as peppers, cauliflower and potatoes are oven roasted laced with a rainbow of spices. The dish is served on a gigantic round platter, and laced with sprinkles of coriander. However, most of the time the veggies have a heavy layer of oil which I don't find very palatable. Here's a lower fat version that I came up with.

RECIPE

ROASTED CURRY CAULIFLOWER 1 large head cauliflower, cored and cut into florets.  2 tablespoons oil 1 teaspoon ground cumin 2 teaspoons ground coriander 1/4 teaspoon curry powder TIP: The green part of the cauliflower stem is delicious in curries chopped up. I leave it out here since the long roasting process will make it real dry.  Preheat the overn to 400 degrees. Core and seperate the cauliflower into florets, then slide each floret in half. If you like, chop the core into slices roughly 1/4" thick. Transfer the cauliflower to a large bowl, and add the oil. Toss, then add the remaining spices.  Transfer the cauliflower to a cookie sheet. Bake for 1 hour, stirring the mixture every 15 minutes. Add salt and a generous amount of pepper. Serve

Chipotle Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes usually bore me after a couple of bites. That's because nowadays I usually cut down on the cream and sugar. But, one way to spice them up and be more palatable is by adding heat from the smokey flavors of the chipotle pepper. 

I grew up in probably the typical sweet potato type of home. Sweet potatoes are only eaten at Thanksgiving. And they're only prepared one way. Laced with lots of brown sugar, butter and cream. Talk about a heart-attack special.  Although I will admit that such a recipe is delicious, its loaded with many nutritional no-no's for those of us watching calories and sugar. So an alternative I like to try is to add some heat and spice while keeping the extra calories to a minimum.

Note that I didn't leave out the butter and milk completely. I still think there needs to be a little bit to make it rich and creamy. 

Timesaver Tip: This recipe calls for baking the potatoes first, then mashing them. Of course you can boil them, microwave or steam them. But I prefer this method since it doesn't take up a burner. This is especially critical in the "average" home kitchen, where 4 burners are the norm. This way I am not using up the burner for other things like cooking vegetables or making gravy on Thanksgiving day. Plus, you also save time since it's much easier to peel them when cooked. 

Recipe

2-3 sweet potatoes (3 pounds) 1 chipotle pepper, seeded and finely chopped 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 tablespoon brown sugar 1 tablespoon butter 1/4 cup milk (or half and half) Preheat the oven to 400. Layer aluminum foil on the oven rack, to prevent the potato sugar from dripping onto the oven. Pierce the potatoes with a fork, then bake the potatoes for 50 minutes to an hour, until they are easily pierced with a fork. Transfer the potatoes to a rack to cool until they can be easily handled. (about 20 minutes). When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel the skin and discard. Remove the pulp and transfer to a large bowl. This should yield about 2 cups of cooked potatoes.  Add the remaining ingredients and stir.  Serve.