Cauliflower With Peppers

When I was a child, cauliflower only ever put in an appearance smothered in a cheese sauce. In many restaurants these days it is a rare addition to the vegetables offered and usually comes steamed. Or straight out of the microwave!

It deserves better treatment. The trick is never to overcook it, and because it is a very well-behaved cabbage variety, that is easily avoided. Simply cut a medium sized cauli into florets and  cook it, covered, in about 2cm of salted water. That’s less than an inch for those of you from non-metric countries.

Now this is important: cook it for exactly five minutes and no longer. Drain it immediately and leave it in the colander while you cook the bell peppers. Here’s how:

Assemble:

1 chopped onion
1 chopped bell pepper, red, yellow or green
50 grms of butter or ghee (Asian clarified butter)
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
Salt and ground black pepper

Cook the onion and bell pepper with the butter in a shallow pan until they are soft. Do not cover during the cooking time, which will allow any excess moisture to escape. This will take about five minutes, after which time remove the pan from the heat and stir in the lemon juice and zest.

Put the cauliflower in a serving dish, add the bell pepper mix, season with salt and pepper and toss lightly and carefully.

The quantities I have given are enough for four people with some left over.

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