House Girlfriend

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House Girlfriend Cooking Recipe Salad Cauliflower Roasted Peppers 4 months ago

Summer Salads for Winter

Still in our heat wave, but with great winter vegetables about, it seems an ideal time to experiment with some summer salad recipes. Which, given the time frame, will be perfect by the time summer actually rolls around. 

First up:

CAULIFLOWER AND ROASTED PEPPER SALAD

INGREDIENTS:

16 ounces of fresh cauliflower

1 orange bell pepper, julienned

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1/2 a lemon

1 teaspoon of oregano

1 teaspoon of basil

1/2 teaspoon of paprika

salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Set your oven to Broil and julienne your pepper. On a foil-lined sheet, lay out your peppers, sprinkling them on both sides with your olive oil and a dusting of salt. Roast them to your desired roastedness- mine I roasted about 10 minutes- but keep a close eye on them, as they could easily burn.

In the meantime, boil your cauliflower until tender. Drain in a colander and remove to a mixing bowl, dousing it in the juice of your lemon. 

Add your roasted peppers to the cauliflower, leftover oils and all. Mix in gently (so as not to disintegrate the cauliflower), adding seasonings when ready. I went for an Italian feel with my salad, but I think it would be equally nice with French or Mexican seasonings. Or even Greek, if I knew what magic they used to make things so delicious. 

Refrigerate for at least one hour, letting the flavors soak in and the salad cool. 

This paired marvelously with a grilled cheese sandwich (not my best work here). Delicious, easy and something I’ve never had. Can’t say that every day.

To summer in winter!

About the House Girlfriend

A MODERN GIRL'S (ATTEMPTED) GUIDE TO HOUSEKEEPING...

That's what I need. A guide. I used to have a job (a career even!) but more often than not, I now find myself in pajamas well past the acceptable time to be found in pajamas, pondering ice cream for breakfast and which version of Pride and Prejudice to waste my afternoon on. I've worked almost every day since I was sixteen... until now. And I don't quite know what to do with myself.

I purposely never learned to clean because I never wanted to have to. I purposely never learned to cook because the idea of winning over a man through his stomach seemed archaic and insulting. I purposely never learned to garden because I’d hate to ruin my manicure- if I ever actually got one.

But here I am. Nothing to do but pull my weight around our apartment, i.e. cook, clean, and generally keep house for The Boyfriend, who lovingly doesn't seem to mind if I never go back to work again.

And when I can get out of my pajamas at a reasonable hour, I find I don't hate it, this housekeeping thing. In fact, I might love it, being a House Girlfriend- and maybe I'll write that guide myself. If only I could get up the courage to scrub out the bathtub...