Salt and Vinegar Cauliflower and Chickpeas

Yes, like the chips.

Hi, friends!

A holiday weekend is incoming, and I hope you are able to take some time to do whatever makes you happy in the next few days.

What’s for Dinner?

I am often thinking about spices, condiments and other delicious pantry items that make cooking easier, quicker and/or more fun…

I don’t love telling people to spend money, and I really hate sending people to The Bad Place. But I do really think that having a bunch of great spices and condiments at your fingertips leads to better, easier cooking, and sometimes that means ordering online. This can lead to less take-out, which could lead to saving money in the long run. When you have a well-stocked spice cabinet/pantry, you are already more than halfway to a good meal anytime.

Like for instance: These incredible Malaysian sambals that I mix into chicken broth and add noodles; These stellar Indian achars that make scrambled eggs and chapatis exciting; This garlicky chili crisp that makes the most incredible salad dressing mixed with balsamic; This totally indispensable line of gochujangs that can amp up any chicken sheet pan dinner.

All this to say: Did you realize that it is possible to purchase vinegar powder? The same vinegar powder used on salt-and-vinegar chips? And you can then…salt-and-vinegar anything at all? I did not know this!

Of course you can use regular (wet??) vinegar anytime, but that won’t work well when you want something to be crispy and browned and not…wet. Like: chicken cutlets, fried fish, roasted vegetables…

I am sorry to say I did buy my vinegar powder at the Bad Place, but I have since realized that you can buy it elsewhere.

So the other night I took the vinegar powder out on its maiden voyage, to season a sheet pan dinner of cauliflower and chickpeas. If you like salt-and-vinegar chips, you will like this recipe. It is not as aggressively seasoned as chips, because a gentler flavor is, in my opinion, called for when eating a whole plateful. But it’s up to you: Shake on more, or less. The stuff that looks like powdered sugar in the photo below is actually the vinegar powder.

Did Mira eat this? Yes! In fact, she loved it.

Salt and Vinegar Cauliflower and Chickpeas

This could be a light dinner on its own for two people; add fried eggs on top to make it more of a meal. Another (very delicious) alternative is to add a couple of handfuls of shredded cheddar on top to melt during the last five minutes of cooking.

Serves: 3 to 4 as a substantial side or 2 to 3 as a meal

1 large head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 (15.5-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and patted dry, or 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas, patted dry
1/4 cup olive, canola or other vegetable oil
1 teaspoon white vinegar powder, plus more to taste
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1 scallion, sliced, for topping, optional

1. Preheat the oven to 425˚. Line a sheet pan with parchment, for easier clean-up, if you like.

2. Combine the cauliflower, chickpeas and oil on the sheet pan and toss to combine. Season with the vinegar powder and salt, and spread the ingredients out on the pan evenly.

3. Roast for 45 minutes, flipping the florets once to brown evenly. Taste a bit and add more vinegar powder or salt to taste. Top with the scallion and serve.

Opinion Soup

Keeping it short today—but:

New York City friends: Did you know there is a Museum of Comics and Cartoon Art in a townhouse on the Upper East Side? It’s very small and old and New York-y in the best possible way.

If you like post-apocalyptic novels but they are all starting to run together in your mind, try After World by Debbie Urbanski. I am still reading it but so far it is terrifying, immersive and extremely imaginative in form.

Please don’t drink raw milk right now! Like, please let’s not do this again.

Can’t end on that one before the weekend, so: Have I told you about my deep appreciation for the amazing cookbook Salad Freak? It has quite a lot of recipes that are basically just nice vegetables and fruits topped with a giant ball of burrata, and I am not complaining. Burrata is also Mira’s favorite thing right now. Here’s she is with a recipe from Salad Freak that she made herself: A mix of peas, favas, and preserved lemon (and flowers from our very neglected kale in the garden) topped with burrata, which she absolutely demolished.

Happy weekend, friends.