Cauliflower Two Ways

Cauliflower happens to be one of those vegetables where, when we eat it, we say "Why don't we eat this more often?! It's so good!" We love it. It tastes great raw on salads and crudite plates, and makes a great take-along snack because (unlike a banana!) it won't get smooshed in your work bag. Just chop it up, throw it in a baggie, and grab it the next morning. Yum. (Dip it in some light ranch dressing. Double yum.) Lately it's been touted as a great ingredient to chop finely and "hide" in mashed potatoes and lasagnas. Cauliflower provides a good dose of fiber, Vitamin C, and antioxidants.

In breaking down a huge head of cauliflower the other day, it ended up being more than 10 cups of florets, perfect for two recipes. Let me know how these dishes turn out, if you try them. Enjoy!

Takeout Fakeout: Five-Spice Beef

Like many people, I love setting aside Sunday to be a day of good food done right. Yesterday we made a slow-cooker meal of beef with onions and red bell peppers, flavored with cream sherry and Chinese five-spice powder. I followed Rachael Ray's recipe (here) quite closely. We made the meal as a "do it early in the day, then forget about it" kind of meal, but were also given the added bonus of it being a "takeout fakeout."

Here's Chris's "takeout" lunch container for today, sans garnish. It is slow-cooked beef with red peppers, red jalapeno pepper, and onions, on a bed of wide egg noodles.

And now with a garnish of crisp green scallions and crunchy sliced almonds.

It isn't obvious in the pics, but it turned out to be a saucy dish. The original recipe called for serving it atop rice, which would have nicely dealt with the saucy factor, more than egg noodles. However, I wasn't sure as to when we'd be actually eating the meal, so egg noodles were a quicker item to make right before plating. It also gives a nod to my mom's Hungarian goulash, which I always think about this time of year!

What slow-cooker winter dishes do you love? Tell me in the comments!