Tonight was one of those evenings where I was utterly devoid of the energy to cook. Or clean up. Or put on pants. However, I managed to do two out of three! Anyone’s guess about which two…
To be fair it’s been a heck of a weekend, working both days and not really having a lot of spare time. I had almost resigned myself to a meal of picked-over fridge leftovers and ice cream out of the container, but then I flipped on one of my Pioneer Woman DVR recordings and inspiration struck! The episode was “Happy Birthday to Me”, and Ree Drummond was making herself a lighter celebratory meal. Normally I hear “light cooking” and want no part of it, but I also heard the words “garlic” and “fries”, and my ears perked right up. And thus, a side dish was born. 
My original plan for leftovers (more of the delicious roast from the French dips) was still in place, but now I could pair it with something more interesting than a baked potato. The recipe was so simple I can wrap it up in two sentences: slice up some potato wedges; pour on some oil, salt, pepper, chili powder, and grated garlic. Then you just mix it up and bake at 450 degrees for 35 minutes. The end. This was considered “light” since they are baked fries instead of deep fried, but I don’t hold that against them…
Unfortunately, my challenge was to focus on cooking my way through this cookbook, and that meant searching the fridge for anything else I could cook that didn’t require leaving the house to go to the store… or wearing pants. It was a theme tonight! Recipe #96 ended up being Spicy Cauliflower Stir-Fry. There is something to be said for a recipe that can be prepared with on-hand supplies, and truth be told, that’s probably the highest praise I can offer this one. I’m not a huge fan of stir-fry. I’m not super stoked about Sriracha and soy sauce. Boy, I sound like a picky little cuss, don’t I?? I’m really not! I swear! And you know what? This one was… meh. 
The thing is, I really LOVE cauliflower. I eat it raw with veggie dips; I eat it steamed with butter; I eat it creamed into that amazing soup from last week… I eat it in a box, with a fox… You get the idea. If YOU like stir-fry, or if you like spicy food, this may be a winner for you. For me it was just sort of…you know…cauliflower. If nothing else, it gives me a new way to prepare an old standby vegetable.
In the interest of fairness (because maybe my taste buds are just too tired… or maybe this is just too healthy!) I read some reviews on this recipe, and it was a pretty even split down the middle of people who RAVED about it (probably vegetarians!) and folks who were less than thrilled. However, I saw a few ideas that could kick this up a notch: try using Thai sweet chili sauce instead of Sriracha; add peas or carrots; add BACON and maybe a little cheese… that one was my idea! If you want to take a whack at this dish, check it out here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/spicy-cauliflower-stir-fry-2684044.html
But whatever you do… MAKE THESE FRIES!!
Have Book, Will Cook 