Two botched-together culinary successes

[highlyeccentric]

1. Curried cauliflower with almonds and green beans.
Or: most of the spices for aloo gobi, without the aloo.


This recipe requires: chopping, hot pans and so on, at least half an hour of your time
This recipe is: vegetarian,
This recipe could be: vegan, nut free, if one subbed in something (chickpeas?) for the nuts, and didn't include honey


1 x onion, sliced or diced
1 small or half a large cauliflower, in florets
Generous handful of green beans, top & tailed and halved
Turmeric powder, cumin (seed or powder), chilli powder, indian curry powder (I used madras)
A generous spoonful of honey (note: i did not actually use this, but i'm pretty sure honey was what was lacking)
A generous handful of slivered almonds
Rice to serve (optional)

Sautee the onions and cauliflower for 5 min or so on medium. Turn down to a simmer, and clap a lid on the pot for 5-10 minutes - the cauliflower should start to soften.
Add the nuts and green beans, and raise the heat a bit. Stir-fry for 1-3 minutes.
Add honey and spices. Stir well to prevent sticking.

Nom.

Note: other spices that might be good include mustard seed, garam marsala, anything that's supposed to be in aloo gobi, and garlic.

2. Somewhere between iced tea and punch, for hot days

A variant on msjackmonroe's Summer Odds and Ends Cooler. It's stuff. In a jug. That's tasty.


Half a fresh peach, diced (I also threw in one mango slice from the tin I was using to make curry)
1 cup oolong tea (note: if tempted to use black tea, use MUCH LESS. We use one cup of cold tea for a giant punchbowl in my family)
1 cup cloudy apple juice
1 cup water
Generous squeeze (1-2 tbsp?) lemon juice

Whack it all in the fridge. If the tea was fresh, it will take quite a while to cool. But it will be tasty. I've just added a shot of whisky to a glassful, and this also was a wise decision (white rum or coconut rum would also be good, but I haven't either of those).

Comments

[redsnake05]

I always forget about making chilled tea-ish beverages for hot days, but I should remind myself with delicious things like this. Sometimes I remember to add cucumber or mint or borage to plain water, but tea makes everything better.

[ofearthandstars]

To make it vegan, you can leave the almonds, but maybe sub the honey with agave nectar. It looks delicious!

[highlyeccentric]

*facepalms forever* That row was supposed to cover both vegan and nut-free and my brain smushed the two in illogical ways!