Spiced cauliflower with za’atar chive yoghurt and pickled shallots
Welcome to To Vegetables, With Love, a celebration of a vegetable life, less ordinary. Find archived recipes on my recipe index.
My book Tenderheart is available from Books are Magic, Kitchen, Arts and Letters, Book Larder, Bold Fork Books and also here or here.
I continue to write from the road this week. I’m in Tokyo this week, a feast for our senses and our taste buds. It’s our second time here and it has so far wowed us as much as it did 6 years ago. This Anthony Bourdain quote about Tokyo comes to mind:
If I had to eat only in one city for the rest of my life, Tokyo would be it. Most chefs I know would agree with me. For those with restless, curious minds, fascinated by layer upon layer of things, flavors, tastes and customs, which we will never fully be able to understand, Tokyo is deliciously unknowable.
More on Tokyo in a future newsletter. In the meantime, I give you cauliflower.
COOK / EAT / SHARE
If you like pasta and pickles, why not bring them together in a jaunty pasta and pickles salad.
And because I’m in Tokyo, here’s a few recipes that feel on theme:
🥦 My cookbook, Tenderheart is for cooking vegetables, all year round. Pick up your copy here. It is also mostly vegan (or vegan-izable) and gluten-free adaptable.
THIS WEEK’S RECIPE
Spiced cauliflower with za’atar chive yoghurt and pickled shallots
© To vegetables, With Love 2024
The spice coating is purposefully heavy, designed to give the roasted cauliflower an edgy punch of deep, earthy flavours. Feel free to use the spices you have available: spice blends like harissa, ras el hanout, Baharat, garam masala or even curry powder would all work as replacements for the cumin/coriander/turmeric/ cinnamon/chilli powder mix I’ve used. The yoghurt is spiced too, with za’atar spice but you could also use dried herbs such as mint, thyme, oregano or basil (or a combo of them all). Make this vegan by using coconut yoghurt, which delivers a pleasing tropical lightness. The quick pickled shallots are a salad topper staple for me – they add a lovely hint of acid to my favourite vegetable dishes.