This is a recipe that would make a fantastic Valentine’s Day side dish. So many times, it’s all about chocolate, candy and dessert on Valentine’s Day… but if you’re going to be making a home-cooked dinner for someone special, then consider this for your vegetables side. 😉
When I was a little girl, one of my favorite fairy-tales was the story of Scheherazade and the Sultan in The Arabian Nights. The legend goes that a mythical Persian king once discovered his wife to be unfaithful, and began to exact gruesome vengeance on the female gender by choosing a woman to marry each evening, and then sending her away to be beheaded the next morning. The residents of his kingdom lived in terror, until one day a beautiful, fearless and particularly clever young woman named Scheherezade volunteered to be married, crowned, and executed in accordance with the sultan’s daily habit (yikes).
Once the sun set, Scheherazade began to entertain the Sultan with the narration of a fantastical tale. He listened intently as the hours passed, fully immersed in her story, until the sun rose before Scheherazade could complete the tale. The Sultan spared her life for one day to finish it the next night. Scheherazade finished the tale, and then began a second, even more exciting story, which she again stopped before completion at dawn. The Sultan spared her for another day to finish the second story.
Night by night Scheherazade kept the Sultan captivated by her tales, and day by day he spared her life in eager anticipation of finishing the previous night’s story. After 1,001 nights, and 1,000 stories, Scheherazade told the king that she had no more tales to tell him. But during these 1,001 nights, the king had fallen in love with Scheherazade, and made her his queen for life. 🙂
The warmth, sweetness and spice in this recipe for cauliflower with cinnamon, almonds and pomegranate seeds would make it a perfect fit for the Sultan’s dinner table in this legend. If you’re looking for a quick and simple way to transform basic cauliflower “rice” into something exotic, this is your (magic carpet) ticket. The cinnamon lays the foundation for the pomegranate seeds to shine with mini bursts of tart sweetness… in addition to literally shining like little rubies for a beautiful unusual look! Slivered almonds add texture and crunch, and I encourage you to experiment with adding mint as garnish to this dish for an extra finishing touch to the layers of Persian flavor.
- 1 head of cauliflower, approximately 1½ lbs
- 1 tbsp [url href=”https://heyrachelmarion.com/recommends/coconut-oil/” title=”coconut oil”]coconut oil[/url]
- ¼ cup pomegranate seeds
- ¼ cup slivered almonds
- 1 cup broth
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- Roughly chop the cauliflower, then pulse in a [url href=”https://heyrachelmarion.com/recommends/food-processor/” title=”food processor”]food processor[/url] until finely shredded (to approximately the texture of couscous).
- Melt the coconut oil in a large [url href=”https://heyrachelmarion.com/recommends/cast-iron-skillet/” title=”Cast-Iron Skillet”]skillet[/url] over medium heat. Add the shredded cauliflower, broth, cinnamon and salt. Stir to combine.
- Simmer for 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until cauliflower is soft and the broth has cooked away.
- Remove from the heat, stir in pomegranate seeds and almonds, and serve warm.
The Comments
Angela Privin at Paleo Kitchen Lab
I absolutely love fairy tales and love that this dish was inspired by a fairy tale. This is indeed a clever, beautiful and inspired version of cauliflower rice for for exotic prince or perhaps special dinner guests ;). Thank you for this original invention. I am always looking for ways to use pomegranates in recipes.
Grok Grub
Angela Privin at Paleo Kitchen LabI think pomegranate is totally gorgeous, so my goal is to develop more recipes with it!
Michele Spring
Wow, I vaguely remember having heard that tale but it is so captivating! I love dishes that have a story behind them, I will definitely enjoy telling this one to my sons as we eat this!
Grok Grub
Michele SpringIt’s sorta the pre-story to the Arabian Nights, which are more famous (well-known stories from the Arabian Nights include Aladdin and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves)!
Michelle
Your post, your pictures, and this recipe are all beautiful! What a jewel to find in my email today! Thank you! And I can’t wait to try it – I love pomegranate too and it is always a gorgeous surprise.
Grok Grub
MichelleHooray! It’s an unconventional use of pomegranate but I think it works.
Edward Gate
How I wish I can try this one. I’m not sure I will be able to successfully cook this one.
Katherine
Looks really good, Rachel! The pomegranate, cinnamon and mint make this sound so refreshing!
Grok Grub
KatherineThanks, Katherine! It’s an unusual dish, for sure.
Rachael @ Love Yourself Green
I can’t believe I’m just now getting around to following you everywhere other than Instagram! Your feed is so beautiful and I’m excited to start following everywhere else now after I just came across you on Pinterest!
On Instagram, you asked about a muffin recipe I was testing a couple of months ago that were completely flourless – I used bananas, peanut butter, cacao, raw honey, DF chocolate chips and vanilla… well, those muffins turned out to be the best grain free brownies ever. Haha. You should go check them out on my site. 🙂 I’ve only been up and running for exactly 23 days now!! 🙂 Nice running into you again. x
Grok Grub
Rachael @ Love Yourself GreenI loooooove it when Instagram friends show up in other places! I’ll go check out the brownie recipe right now!
Anna
Well, mine turned out completely different…I’m not a fan of cinnamon (or almonds) in savory like dishes, so I used coconut milk instead of broth. Added some honey and coconut sugar and cranberries (store was out of pomegranates). Turned out more like a Paleo oatmeal and super yummy! Thanks so much for the recipe, even though I changed it up, it was a great inspiration 🙂
Grok Grub
AnnaWow! Love the direction you took it, rock on.
Miz Helen
This looks like a fantastic salad, can’t wait to try it. Thanks so much for sharing your post with Full Plate Thursday. Hope you are having a great week and come back to see us real soon!
Miz Helen
Sylvie | Gourmande in the Kitchen
Love the pretty little burst of color from the pomegranate seeds!
Grok Grub
Sylvie | Gourmande in the KitchenI’m totally addicted to the look of pomegranate, it’s gorgeous!
vegetarianmamma (Cindy)
It looks like a work of art instead of food! How cool! I have tweeted and pinned your entry to our Gluten Free Fridays board on Pinterest! 🙂 I can’t wait to see what you share next time!
-Cindy