As you may or may not have noticed, I go through phases with posting recipes. At times, this has bothered me, but fortunately, in the past year, I’ve gotten better at just rolling with whatever it is I feel compelled to write about.

Interestingly, October and November have found me spending a lot of time experimenting in the kitchen—most likely it’s because cooler temps make it hard to throw stuff in a bowl and call it Salad.

A few weeks ago, I came across this recipe and couldn’t get it out of my head. I even went out and bought chickpea flour for the dumplings. Go figure, though, I forgot to see if I had any baking powder handy before I got to work. Next time, Gadget. No big deal, though. I made a few tweaks to work with what I had on hand, and I have a feeling this recipe is going to be one of those “in the vault” meals for the winter.

Ingredients:

• 1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets
• ~3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• sea salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• a few drops liquid smoke
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth (or water)
• 1 can chickpeas
• 1 can diced tomatoes, no salt added
• Parsley, minced, for garnish

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Toss cauliflower with 1.5 tbsp pool and salt. Roast cauliflower 30-45 minutes or until browned.
2. Meanwhile, heat remaining oil over medium heat in a large stock pot. Add onion, celery, and carrot. Cook until soft, ~7 or 8 minutes. Add garlic, cook another 2 minutes, continuously stirring.
3. Add spices, bay leaf, broth, tomato, and chickpeas. Turn heat up to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and allow to simmer 10-15 minutes.
4. Add the cauliflower and simmer another 10 minutes.
5. Serve hot and garnished with fresh parsley.

Do you cook more or less when it’s cold out? What are some of your favorite cold-weather recipes?