This One’s for the Ladies (at Least in My House)
My husband is about the most un-picky eater I know. While I happily eat down the fridge with alarming regularity (seriously, that and my, um, screw-ups are basically all I write about around here), he has truly mastered the art of eating what’s on hand. No croutons for the salad? Crushed up off-brand-Ritz will work just fine. All out of good cheese? Toss him a well-aged Kraft Single. In five years of marriage, he has enjoyed and endured my culinary successes and failures with an abundance of grace.
So, on the rare occasion that he expresses distaste for a certain food, I typically have no qualms about taking it out of rotation. Usually.
But then, a month or so ago, I made this cauliflower curry and I knew as soon as I tasted it that I had a winner. Something about the combo of coconut oil (not milk, like my usual curries) and red curry paste and cauliflower just worked. I loved it. After dinner that night, though, the pronouncement came. “You know, this wasn’t bad. But, well, cauliflower, it’s just not my favorite.” In husband-speak, “not my favorite” is the kiss of death to a dish. I was sad.
This story has happy ending, though. In the following weeks, I looked for any opportunity to make my new favorite dish for others. Fortunately, not all my friends feel as negatively toward cauliflower as that BFF who shares my bed. My vegan friend Katie appreciated the animal-free heartiness. My friend Kate (yes, all my friends really have the same name) declared it delicious, spicy but not too spicy, after warning me that she probably wouldn’t like it because she doesn’t like a lot of things. It’s my new go-to for any night my darling cauliflower-hater has to work late or is otherwise indisposed at the dinner hour, and I don’t have to feel guilty for making his favorite on a night he’s not home.
Oh, and just case you were wondering, what culinary delicacy does he and my son turn to when I am not home for dinner? Why, frozen pizza, of course. Or, if that’s not available, maybe some Ritz crackers with Kraft singles.
Adapted from this recipe at Everybody Loves Sandwiches
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