cauliflower with anchovies

Hurricane Irene came barreling up the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast coast this past weekend. I live in the New York metropolitan area, and we braced ourselves for the heavy rains, storm surges, flooding and power outages. 

For the latter, that meant freezer diving. I wanted to rid ourselves of what we were stockpiling, just in case the power was out for days. The Kids were laughing that I was force feeding them ice cream. "Do I HAVE to eat more Mango Sorbet?" We ate through frozen pizzas, mini crab cakes, tacos, fish sticks... you get the idea.

What I did manage to cook from scratch were some vegetables, and not just any veggies, but one of the Top Three on The Kids' Fave Veggie Dish List. It may be hard to imagine that

plus

disintegrating into this

would yield a satisfying vegetable side dish. You'll have to try it to believe me. The anchovies cook down to a salty paste, and when combined with garlic, olive oil and red pepper, create a wonderful sauce. You toss in the cauliflower and some water and eight minutes later, tasty veggies! 

Cauliflower with Anchovies and Garlic

adapted from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman

Printable Recipe

½ tin anchovies (The Kids love the flavor and insist on a whole tin.)

2 tablespoons olive oil

2-3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 head cauliflower, cut into florets

¼ cup water

In a large sauté pan over medium heat, cook the anchovies with olive oil until reduced to a paste. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for one minute. Add the cauliflower and water, continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until cauliflower is tender, about 8-10 minutes. Season with salt to taste. (When I use the whole tin, I add no salt.)