Friday, February 5, 2010

Roasted Potatoes and Cauliflower with Red Onion, Capers, and Chiles

Last weekend, I flipped through the A16 book looking for something interesting and seasonal for a dinner meal. I decided on a braised fish dish and this warm roasted potato salad to go on the side. The fish was fine, we were happy with it, but it wasn’t something I was compelled to shout about from the rooftops. This potato and cauliflower dish, however, was very shout-worthy. Kurt and I agreed this was a big winner, and then we raced back to the kitchen for seconds.

Chunks of potatoes were tossed with olive oil and salt and then roasted in a 450 F oven. Throughout this book, it's common that seasoning will be with salt only if chile flakes are used later in the dish. The cauliflower was chopped into florets and tossed with a generous quarter cup of olive oil and some salt. It was then sauteed with that oil until the cauliflower just started to brown. Then, the saute pan went into the oven where the cauliflower roasted until browned but not limp. As the vegetables roasted, more olive oil was heated in a saucepan. Capers were fried in it, and then chile flakes were added with sliced red onion. When the onion had softened, the mixture was taken off the heat, and red wine vinegar was stirred into it. That mixture was the warm dressing which was then tossed with the roasted potatoes and cauliflower.

It’s a simple combination of things that obviously go together well, but the olive oil and careful seasoning at each step and the warm caper, chile, onion, vinegar dressing all made it outstanding. As I said, this was the highlight of our meal served warm and crisp just from the oven. However, this could also be made in advance and served at room temperature. As a third option, if you’re lucky enough to have leftovers the next day, it’s also delicious as a cold salad taken right from the refrigerator and topped with tuna.





26 comments:

  1. What an interesting combination. I think I might try playing with this idea of roasting potatoes with cauliflower.

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  2. This makes a great side! hmm..not sure about the cauliflower though (for me).

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  3. oh, this is a gorgeous combo! A very pleasant dish!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  4. Just got some cauliflower and would love to make this - an excellent side dish!

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  5. Yummy potatoes. Interesting match with the cauliflower. I haven't had cauliflower yet. I did see some at the farmer's market last weekend. Hopefully they'll have some this weekend.

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  6. This is simply wonderful. No carb califlower and total carb potatoes, great balance! This is the kind of dish I know I'd love.

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  7. I wish my children would eat cauliflour. I love it and this sounds like a great way to cook it.

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  8. Yum! I've missed your blog! - You have such good-looking savory treats.

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  9. well, whaddya know--a shout-worthy dish involving cauliflower! i'll bet those are rare. :)

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  10. This is one of my favourite ways to prepare potatoes. So good.

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  11. Love this combo - made something very similar out of necessity as we were getting backed up with CSA goodies. This sounds so amazing.

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  12. How is it that just the title of your posts can get me salivating? I love the combination here. Capers are an underused and under appreciated thing in my book.

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  13. Oh this looks fantastic and so perfect for me!! Love the capers.

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  14. What a lovely way to dress up roasted potatoes (which we also love just on their own!) - yum!

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  15. I'm gonna definitely be trying this very very soon!! This is the first time I come across your blog and I LOVE it :)

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  16. What a unique side! It really sounds excellent - lovely flavors. I'd be racing you for seconds too.

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  17. Lisa, very nice veggie dish...love the mixture of different veggies ;-)

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  18. That's nice to cook with cauliflower. I always forget about it.

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  19. I just love roasted vegetables & I can never get tired of it. The onions give the dish such a nice colour :)

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  20. What a super dish! I love roasting veggies and potatoes! I wonder, could you roast the potatoes and cauliflower together? It would seem to me the florets and small chunks of potato would cook for the same length of time.
    The warm dressing with capers sounds like the perfect finishing touch.

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  21. Barbara: I also thought that roasting the potatoes and cauliflower together would have been simpler, and I'll probably do that in the future. I think the cauliflower was sauteed first (with extra oil) to give it more richness.

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  22. This looks super delicious! I love roasting vegetables and potatoes too. It brings out the flavor in a wonderful way but I have never roasted cauliflower before!

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  23. The last time I bought a bag of potatoes, half of them went kind of bad because I neglected them for so long. So I resolved not to get potatoes again, because clearly I don't like them as much. This post is making me wanna buy a sack of potatoes again! Lovely, crunchy, roasted potatoes...and great combination with the vegetables in there!

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  24. Okay this is crazy: My husband was looking for a recipe that included potatoes, cauliflower and onions, and this popped up. The funny thing is that the recipe also called for a bunch of other things that we had JUST purchased for other reasons: capers and cider vinegar. Another thing? my name is Lisa, and I had never seen your blog before! Anyway, we LOVED the recipe and it's going to become a regular part of our cooking schedule. Thank you so much!

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