A Side of Cauliflower

Yes, I know you're wondering - has Andrew gone vegetarian?! What's this about posting about a weird  white vegetable, I thought he only made decadent desserts and manly meaty meals. Well don't you fear, I didn't JUST eat cauliflower for dinner (I also had some leftover rotisserie chicken from Whole Foods with the Blueberry Balsalmic BBQ sauce from last week and some tomato sauce over some angel hair pasta). But you already saw those recipes, so no need to reiterate ;).

I've heard from some of my friends they don't like cauliflower for a variety of reasons: it's weird-looking white vegetable, strange texture, etc. - to me, all cop-outs, I LOVE IT. So I came up with a cauliflower dish for the cauliflower-suspicious amongst you.

The secrets of this one? Butter and spices. Because, well, everything goes better with butter (channeling Paula Deen), and spices can perk up what can be a bland starchy veggie. Peppers help sweeten the deal, too. There are a million and one variations you can make on this: switch the spices, throw in an extra veggie to melt in, finish it off in the oven, but this is how I made it tonight.

I want to eat it right out of the pan! Oh wait, maybe I did...

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Pan-Roasted Cauliflower with Pine Nuts
Serves 2-4

4 Tbsp. butter
4 Tbsp. olive oil
1 small head of cauliflower, chopped into florets
2 peppers, sliced into strips
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 cup pine nuts (optional)
salt and pepper

Heat butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add the cauliflower, season with salt and pepper, and saute until slightly softened, 7-10 minutes.

Add peppers, season with salt, pepper, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and continue to saute until the peppers melt down and the cauliflower is browned, another 5-7 minutes.

Throw in the pine nuts so they can toast a bit, then serve right away!