food to glow

I first became acquainted with this style of dish – a healthier sweet and sour, for want of a better description  – after Andrew came back from a working weekend clutching a hand-written recipe, and near-demanding that we make it.

To him it was called Cressida’s Chicken, named after the sister of the hostess for whom this was a speciality. In this instance, a starchly-uniformed live-in cook prepared it – how the other half live! – and everyone present clamoured for the recipe. This was many years ago, but the recipe has finagled its way into my repertoire, and over the years has been adapted to our more veggie-minded ways. I now know that its proper name is Marbella Chicken, the stand-out dish from the 1982-published Silver Palate Cookbook. Perhaps you are already acquainted with this accessible gourmet cookbook?

Upon first scanning the ingredients I was tempted to ask Andrew whether his impression of the dish was coloured by consumption of the host’s undoubted fine wine cellar. But I knew that it hadn’t, and that nothing but food and fine Scottish water had passed his lips. Still – capers, olives, prunes!, brown sugar, wine? Really?

I dutifully prepared it (okay, I was intrigued and would have made it anyway) and was astonished, not only with the simplicity of it all, but the heady result of combining – to my mind – rather incompatible ingredients and then dining on something so sigh-inducingly good. Nearly every time I have made it for others, I am – like the original conduit of this recipe – induced to share the recipe. I imagine the original recipe created a similar wave among host-cooks and diners, and it is this ripple effect that is still being experienced today. A kind of naive, culinary social network.

Of course, make the original recipe, but I have tweaked the heck out of it to create a similarly textured but completely vegan version, for not only my family, but you and yours. It is spiky and full-on, as the ingredients might suggest, so I like pairing it with soft, silky polenta, creamy mashed potatoes or baked rice. In one of the images I have it alongside an upcoming recipe using the leftover cauliflower to make a luxurious version of paleo-staple, cauliflower mash. This would be a bit cauliflower overload for most of you. Really, just spoon it over your favourite comforting carbs and you can’t go wrong.

What favourite recipe have you successfully adapted over the years?

More Cauliflower on Food To Glow

One-Pot Sweet Potato, Cauliflower and Chickpea Shawarma (vegan/gluten-free)

Cauliflower Cheese Cake

Arabic Eggplant and Walnuts with Cauliflower Couscous (vegan/gluten-free)

Spicy Cauliflower-Cashew Bites with Buffalo Sauce (vegan/gluten-free)

Pan-Fried Creole Cauliflower Fritters

Roasted Pumpkin Hummus with Cauliflower-Walnut Crumble (gluten-free)

Cauliflower and Green Olive Tapenade Gratin (gluten-free)

Tandoori Cauliflower Tart with Olive Oil Crust

Cauliflower and Almond Pizza Crust with Fresh Tomato Sauce (gluten-free)

Sage and Walnut Cauliflower Cheese

Cauliflower Recipes From Others

Herbed Cauliflower Rice – by Recipes From A Pantry

Paprika-Spiced Cauliflower with Four-Cheese Dip by Tinned Tomatoes

Creamy Cauliflower Pasta Bake by The Muffin Myth

Cauliflower Brunch Frittata with Chimichurri by Whole Nourishment

Roasted Cauliflower Manchurian by Deena Kakaya

Creamy Cauliflower Soup with Pistachio Harissa Pesto by The Spicy RD

and the wild card… Chocolate Cauliflower Cake with Salted Cinnamon Caramel Icing by Veggie Desserts