It’s not summer here in Chile (in fact it’s quite cold with none of the buildings having central heating) but I wanted to continue my stream of delicious summer dishes for everyone back in the U.S. As such, this entry features yet another dish from my Comidista summer dinner, which I introduced with previous entry of Summer Lasagna. Having free reign to choose whatever recipes I wanted for this meal, I decided I needed to have a theme to narrow down my choices of what to make. Looking over my list of recipes to make, I realized I had a ton of from, my favorite Spanish food blogger, which I’d never had the chance to prepare. Seizing the opportunity to experiment, I decided my meal theme would be cold foods (for our hot summer weather), using healthy, fresh produce, and recipes from Mikel López Iturriaga’s blog, El Comidista.
One of the side dish recipes I settled on were these roasted carrots and cauliflower with orange. Great for a summer day, these have a zesty flavor and can be served warm or cold.
Roasted Carrots and Cauliflower with Orange (adapted from El Comidista)
Yield: 4-6 servings
2 small heads of cauliflower (one white and the other green or purple or both white if you can’t find other colors)
4-8 carrots, depending on their size
1 large orange
1 lemon
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 teaspoon of cumin
1/2 teaspoon of spicy paprika
1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
Directions:
1) Fill a large pot with water, salt it, and put it to boil over high heat.
2) Peal the carrots and cut them into pieces. Cut off the trunk of the cauliflower leaving only the florets and break it into pieces. Set aside.
3) Preheat the oven to 445ºF.
4) Boil the carrots in the pot of water for 5-10 minutes or until they’re a bit soft, but not cooked all the way. Remove the carrots from the water. Add the cauliflower to the same water and boil for a minute. Rinse both carrots and cauliflower. Drain well.
5) Cut the orange and the lemon in half and set aside one half of each. Juice the other two halves and mix the juices.
6) In a small bowl, mix 2 teaspoons of the juice with the cumin, paprika, 2 cloves of garlic, crushed, vinegar, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, salt and pepper.
7) Place the cauliflower, carrots, and unsqueezed halves of lemon and orange on a baking sheet. Cover with the marinade, using your hands to mix, making sure the carrots and cauliflower are evenly coated. Place in the oven for 20 minutes until the cauliflower is soft and golden. If it’s browning too quickly, put some aluminum foil over top.
8) While that’s in the oven, mix the combined orange and lemon juice with 8 tablespoons of olive oil, the brown sugar, salt and pepper. Toss the dressing with the roasted carrots and cauliflower and serve. If you’d like it a bit bitter, you can add the juice from the roasted orange and lemon to the dressing.
Coliflor asada con zanahoria y naranja (adaptada de El Comidista)
2 coliflores pequeñas (una blanca y otra verde o morada, o las dos blancas)
4-8 zanahorias dependiendo del tamaño
1 naranja grande
1 limón
2 dientes de ajo
1/2 cucharadita de comino
1/2 cucharadita de pimentón picante
1 cucharada de vinagre rojo
1 cucharada de azúcar moreno
Aceite de oliva virgen extra
Preparación:
1) Poner agua abundante con sal a hervir en una cazuela grande.
2) Pelar las zanahorias y cortarlas en bastones gruesos si son grandes. Cortar el tronco de la coliflor dejando sólo las flores, y retirarlo para otras preparaciones (una crema, por ejemplo).
3) Precalentar el horno a 230ºC grados.
4) Cocer las zanahorias en el agua unos 5-10 minutos, hasta que pierdan un poco de dureza pero sin que se hagan del todo. Sacarlas y escaldar la coliflor en la misma agua un minuto. Escurrir todo bien.
5) Cortar la naranja y el limón en dos y reservar dos mitades. Exprimir las otras dos y mezclar los jugos. 6) Mezclar en un bol pequeño 2 cucharaditas del zumo, el comino, el pimentón, los dientes de ajo aplastados, el vinagre, 2 cucharadas de aceite, sal y pimienta.
7) Poner en una bandeja la coliflor, las zanahorias, el medio limón y la media naranja no exprimidos. Embadurnarlo todo con la marinada y meter al horno unos 20 minutos, hasta que la coliflor esté hecha y dorada. Si se dora demasiado rápido, ponerle papel de plata por encima.
8) Mezclar el zumo de las naranjas y el limón sin exprimir con 8 cucharadas de aceite de oliva, el azúcar, sal y pimienta. Verter el aliño sobre la coliflor y las zanahorias y servir. Si gusta con un punto amargo, se puede añadir al aliño el jugo de la naranja y el limón asados.
