Garlicky Sautéed Cauliflower, Considering Thanksgiving
I call the recipe I’m sharing today coliflor fritita con ajos, by its Spanish name, and would translate it as garlicky sautéed cauliflower. It feels like such a Spanish dish that it almost feels wrong to translate it.
Thanksgiving, also known as turkey day, is fast approaching. This year it is even more special than before, because my two college sons will be home. We haven’t been together as a family since August! They will be home for only a few days, I know, but at this stage of our family life, it will be great, and we’ll take what we can get.
Turkey, as I mentioned, will be the star of the table, and the star of every kitchen in America, as it’s tradition. But to be honest -and I will probably not be very popular here-, the sides, for me, are the main stars. Never again in the whole year you will get such a variety and richness of side dishes as you get on Thanksgiving day, and you can fill a plate with just sides. That could be my plate!
For years our family has been celebrating Thanksgiving with our friends, sharing hosting duties and the roasting of the turkey. This year it’s my friend Shelby‘s turn to cook the bird, and while some traditional side dishes will be on the table (traditional for us because they’re favorites of our two families, even if some of them are not your typical Thanksgiving sides), we always look for something different, something new to add to the table that will make it more interesting. I’m trying new recipes, and the one I’m sharing today, garlicky sautéed cauliflower, could be a winner.
Is it just me, or has cauliflower become way more popular than it was? My mom used to make it often, and to be honest, the smell of cauliflower steaming on the stove was not my favorite. However, she made it taste delicious, and there are many Spanish dishes that incorporate it (check here for cod and cauliflower soup with rice).
But if you were in doubt of the benefits of eating cauliflower, check this: cauliflower is one of the vegetables with the lowest glycemic index, 15. And what is the glycemic index, you may ask? Hold on tight because I am going to throw a few scientific concepts here: the glycemic index is a scale that classifies carbohydrates from 0 to 110 depending on how much they raise blood sugar, as compared to pure glucose (pure sugar), which has been arbitrarily assigned a glycemic index (GI) of 100. If the glycemic index of a food is very high, as is the case with french fries, whose glycemic index value is 95, this means that the digestion of this carbohydrate will cause a big rise in blood sugar levels, and therefore the body will react by secreting a lot of insulin to help lower the high blood sugar. If the glycemic index of a food is low, as is the case with cauliflower, with a GI of 15, the digestion of this carbohydrate will release far less glucose and less insulin will be needed to break down the blood sugar levels.
And what does this all mean? In short, carbohydrates with low glycemic index are called good carbohydrates, and they digest easily. Carbohydrates with high glycemic index, the bad carbohydrates, increase blood sugar levels, which may lead to a variety of health conditions like type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure.
I apologize for the scientific rant (I’m pharmacist after all!), but do I need to say more to cheer for cauliflower? For our Thanksgiving table, we will have both high glycemic index and low glycemic index sides, to balance everything out. But nobody will think of it, we will just enjoy the most delicious meal, in the best of company, as we give thanks.
GARLICKY SAUTÉED CAULIFLOWER
Coliflor Fritita con Ajos
Ingredients:
1 cauliflower head
1 head of garlic
4 Tbs olive oil
Salt and Pepper to Taste
A few sprigs of parsley
Remove the leaves and middle stem of the cauliflower and discard. Split the cauliflower florets. Line them on a chopping board and liberally chop all the florets into very small pieces (no bigger than 1 inch). Some pieces will be very small, like cauliflower “rice”, and that’s okay.
Peel and slice the garlic cloves very thinly. Mince the parsley and reserve.
Place a large sauté pan on the stove, add 3 Tbs of olive oil and heat. When the oil is hot, add the garlic and lower the heat to medium. Sauté the garlic until golden, 1-2 minutes, always checking to make sure it doesn’t brown or burn. With a slotted spoon, remove the garlic from the pan and set aside.
Add the chopped cauliflower to the garlicky oil in the pan, increase the heat to medium high, and sauté, uncovered, for about 8-10 minutes. Resist the urge to stir the pan often, do it only after a few minutes of cooking on medium-high —a few blistered spots are desired. Season with salt and pepper and add the sautéed garlic slices. Stir once more and avoid stirring during the last minutes of cooking so as to not break the tender florets.
Transfer to a large or deep serving plate, sprinkle generously with the chopped parsley, and drizzle with the remaining olive oil.
