While cooking, listen to this: Egg Man - Beastie Boys

I will never forget the first time I saw a recipe-sharing site online (I am the least sorry if that dates me). I was at a friend’s apartment my sophomore year of college and we were hanging out in her living room with her roommate. I noticed her roommate was looking at this page full of gorgeous food pics and I asked her what it was.

“Oh, it’s just TasteSpotting.”

“Just?! What do you mean, just?!” I loudly thought in my head. “This is effing amazing!”

“Oh, cool!” I said calmly, feigning a sense of decorum in public.

Since I didn’t get a smartphone (again, dating myself?) until my senior year of college (mmhmm), I waited until I got home to check it out. And oh baby, I don’t think I’ve stopped looking at photos of food since.

I would spend hours - literal, sixty-minute hours - looking at TasteSpotting and other food sites. If it had pictures of food and recipes, you bet your ass I knew about it. It was nearly impossible to prepare food in my dorm room and while my dining hall was pretty great compared to other options on campus, it was still a dining hall on a college campus, so I loved to think about all of the food I could cook once I had an actual kitchen meant for humans and not for ants.

Also, with the insanity of college (why did I need to take a physics course as an arts and humanities major?!) and becoming a person (surprise, the guy you thought was your person just broke up with you, good luck!), there was something about compiling and saving recipes that just made my brain go quiet.

Even though I never have to take another physics course again and recently got married to my actual person, I still love looking at recipes whenever I get the chance. My Pinterest boards are immaculately organized, and my inbox is full of labels for ingredients and meal ideas. I’m not prepared to say that I have 50+ labels…

I’m also not prepared to say that I don’t.

Whatever, they’re pretty.

Anyway!

All of this really does lead me to this recipe, run-on sentences aside. A while ago I downloaded the New York Times cooking app and it has truly changed my life. I found myself on there multiple times a week before I started working from home, and now it takes every fiber of my being to stay fully present on my fifth Zoom meeting of the day and not search for recipes to feel like a human.

One time I was on there and saw a recipe for a cauliflower coconut curry. I had never made a curry before, let alone for myself much less for the blog, so we decided to add it to the recipe list. We totally forgot we had the photos until about a week ago, because time is an illusion and March-August felt like one very, very long day.

Now that the weather in New York has turned autumnal (thank GOD I am so sick of sweating), it’s time to whip out the stews and the soups and all of your favorite healthy hibernation foods. This curry has a lot of ingredients but is so easy to put together, and while we fully support ordering delivery to support local restaurants, sometimes cheffing something up by yourself is what keeps you from turning off your camera and mic and curling into the fetal position with your newly-acquired blue-light glasses in the middle of a meeting that should have been an email.

But maybe that’s just us!

Love and meows,

Rina

CAULIFLOWER COCONUT CURRY WITH CASHEWS & PEAS

Yield: 4 servings

Active Cook Time: 20m | Inactive Cook Time: 25m | Total Cook Time: 45m

Category: Main, Vegan, Indian

Source: The New York Times

Special Equipment: mortar and pestle (optional, see instructions), large skillet or pan with lid

Note: this goes beautifully with basmati rice - cooked rice is listed in the ingredients and factored into the cook time, so if you’re making rice from scratch, just cook it alongside the curry.

Ingredients

1 1-inch knob of ginger

4 garlic cloves

1 green chile pepper

Kosher salt, to taste

4 tablespoons canola or other neutral oil

2 large onions

1 Tablespoon tomato paste*

1 ½ teaspoons ground coriander

1 ¼ teaspoons ground cumin

½ teaspoon chili powder

1 large head of cauliflower

1 14-ounce can coconut milk (we love Thai Kitchen brand)

¾ cup roasted, salted cashews**

½ cup frozen peas

½ teaspoon garam masala

1 small bunch cilantro or parsley, for serving

1 lemon, wedged, for serving

Cooked basmati rice, for serving

*Word of advice from my mom - always buy tomato paste in the tube instead of the can. Recipes that use an entire can of tomato paste are RARE and a lot of it ends up going to waste. With the tube, just use what you need and stick in the fridge!

**The NYT recipe calls for unsalted cashews, but we like the extra flavor that comes from the salted cashews. Up to you!

Instructions

Prep your aromatics: get all the chopping and mincing out of the way now. For the ginger, garlic and green chile pepper you have two options: if you have a mortar and pestle, mash them into a paste with a sprinkle of salt and set aside. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle (like us), finely mince the ginger, garlic and green chile pepper with a pinch of salt and flatten using the side of your chef’s knife. The second option won’t get as pasty, but we truly didn’t notice a difference. Set aside.

Prep your vegetables: small-dice the onions and set aside. Cut the cauliflower into small, bite-sized florets (include the stems, they’re the best part!) and set aside.

Cook the onions: in your large pan, add 3 Tablespoons of neutral oil and heat over medium. Add the diced onions and cook until they get all golden, about 10 minutes. Add the ginger-garlic-chile paste and cook for 3-4 minutes or until fragrant, stirring often.

Cook remaining ingredients: stir in the tomato paste, coriander, cumin, chile powder and about 1 teaspoon (plus more or minus less, to taste). Stir in the cauliflower florets and coconut milk (the whole thing, solid stuff at the top included) and bring to a simmer. Once simmering, reduce the heat to low and, pop the lid on and cook until the cauliflower is tender or cooked to your liking, anywhere from 10-20 minutes.

Fry the cashews (optional): while the curry is cooking away, you can fry the cashews if you want (fun but not super necessary). Line a plate with paper towel. Heat 1 Tablespoon of neutral oil in a small skillet or pan over medium heat. Add the cashews, stirring occasionally, for about 2 minutes. Transfer to the paper-towel-lined plate to cool.

Finish the curry: stir the frozen peas and garam masala into the cauliflower pan and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Assemble! top the curry with the [fried] cashews, cilantro or parsley leaves and a squeeze of lemon juice just before you serve. Personally I like food that punches me in the face a little so I add a ton of lemon, but you do you. Serve with basmati rice or your favorite grain.

To keep: the curry will keep in the fridge for a few days.