Cauliflower Cous Cous Courtesy of Jan

For all your dear OFL's in search for variety, this is a good one, courtesy of Jan, our long and faithful OFL! I have always loved cous cous, because it is an incredibly simple and easy pasta to make. Well, as you know, we gave up pasta, not for lent, but for Atkins! It's delicious and a great variation for our WOE. You DO know that we have to keep the variety in our food to be successful, don't you?

Cauliflower couscous
Chef Ben Ford
Ingredients
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 large yellow onions, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 3 whole cauliflower, shaved (save stalks, they make a good soup)
• 2 sweet red peppers, roasted and diced
• 2 Jalapeño pepper, roasted and diced
• 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
• 1 tablespoon mint, finely sliced
• 1 tablespoon basil, finely sliced
• 1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
• 1 tablespoon butter to finish.
• Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
• * Regular cooked couscous can be substituted for the cauliflower
Preparation
Shave the cauliflower florets with a knife. The smaller the better since it will help us avoid having to over work the cauliflower in the processor to get a consistent size that resembles couscous, the grain.
Heat the oil in a large skillet.
Add the spices and gently heat until the mustard seeds pop.
Add the onion and garlic and let them soften.
Add the cauliflower and diced peppers to the onion.
Cover and allow to steam until tender — 5 minutes or so.
Finish with butter, mint, basil, parsley, kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper

I might add here that when I tried this recipe, I didn't have all the ingredients available, but It worked fine, and I omitted the Jalapenos, because I was serving it to the folks, and Mama won't eat even a hint of the hot stuff. Anyone who says cauliflower is boring just hasn't tried this versatile vegetable. Also, I processed the cauliflower on a mandolin- much faster!