Kitty's Cauliflower Fried "Rice"

1 tablespoon sesame seed oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c. chopped onion
1/2 head cauliflower, grated (by hand on or in a food processor)
1/2 c. corn (Kitty uses the baby corn cobs, chopped, but I use frozen corn kernels, thawed & drained)
1/2 c. petite green peas (frozen, thawed & drained)
1/2 c. shredded carrots (pre-shredded is fine)
1/2 c. broccoli florets
4 scallions, chopped
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 large eggs, beaten, or 1/2 c. Egg Beaters
1/2 lb chicken or shrimp, cooked and cut in bite-size pieces (salad shrimp works well and doesn't have to be cut up; you can also use firm tofucubes or cooked, shelled edamame)

Heat the sesame oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and onion, stir 1 minute, then add the cauliflower, corn, pease, carrots and broccoli. Stir fry the mixture for 3-4 minutes or until the broccoli is tender but still bright green. Add the chicken, shrimp, tofu or edamame, scallions, and soy sauce, and stir to combine all ingredients. Move the mixture to one side of the skillet. Add the eggs to the open side of the skillet. Cook and stir the eggs until just set, then mix them in with the rest of the ingredients. Serve hot.

3-4 servings

Culinary Disasters

Recently I pledged to resume the regular posting of menus and recipes, but I have been confounded by some culinary disasters.

Like the Cauliflower Latkes recipe. Substitute nutritious, low-carb cauliflower for potatoes, and still get your potato pancake fix. Not. It turned into Cauliflower Soup In A Skillet, not even faintly resembling pancakes. Nothing wrong with heating soup in a skillet. As Shirley Jackson, talented writer (and obese person) and author of the short story The Lottery which many of us were made to read in high school, wrote in one of her hilarious books about domestic life (I think it was Raising Demons), the quickest way to re-heat coffee (in pre-microwave times) is to put it in a skillet.

But when you have your face fixed (as my mom would say) for pancakes, you don't want soup in a skillet. You want the danged pancakes, nice and crispy and browned.

Cauliflower with Blue Cheese Vinaigrette

1 head cauliflower, trimmed and divided into florets
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon minced scallion
3 tablespoons blue cheese, crumbled (I use reduced fat)

Preheat the oven to 450F. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Spread the cauliflower florets on the baking sheet, spray them with olive oil cooking spray, and sprinkle with half the salt. Roast for 5 minutes, remove from oven, flip the cauliflower over, spray with more cooking spray, and sprinkle with the rest of the salt. Roast for another 5 minutes or until golden and tender but not mushy.

While the cauliflower roasts, make the vinaigrette. Whisk together the water, olive oil, vinegar, and pepper until well combined. Just before serving, gently mix the blue cheese, scallions and vinaigrette with the roasted cauliflower,

Note: if you don't have time to roast the cauliflower, just nuke it. Roasting makes it extra tasty, but the vinaigrette adds plenty of flavor on its own.

4 servings

Nutty Cranberry Veggy Salad

This combination of ingredients may sound strange, but it's very good. You can substitute unsalted nuts if you're worried about sodium, but I think the salty nuts go well with the sweet cranberries.

1 16-oz package frozen California style vegetable mix (or other mix containing cauliflower),
cooked according to package directions, drained & cooled
1/2 cup salted nuts (your choice - I like peanuts or pecans)
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup mayonnaise (I use olive oil mayo)
1 tsp Splenda or sugar

Mix all ingredients well, cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

4-6 servings

Caulfilower, Broccoli & Bacon Salad

4 cups fresh cauliflower florets, cooked until tender-crisp
4 cups fresh broccoli florets, cooked until tender-crisp
4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne
1 tbl olive oil
1-1/2 tbl sherry vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
1 tsp grated orange zest

Toss ingredients in a large bowl.

4 servings