I don’t go to Italy to eat. I always order the wrong thing (including the stuffed zucchini flower, which may the only thing in the world I’m allergic to). I find the pasta in Rome insipid, flaccid, too fat, not fresh, and the pomodoro sauce soporific. Which, of course, only means that I don’t frequent the best of restaurants there. That said, I had a phenomenal dish at a nondescript joint on a side street off Via 20 Septembre. Dorado. DORADO. My new favorite fish. Okay, I guess I’ve had it before; it’s also known as mahi-mahi or common dolphinfish — not to be confused with an actual dolphin god forbid. Anyway, it was really good.
The reason I bring it up at all is that when in Maine the following weekend, I pilfered a book of my Dad’s, Adrift: 76 Days Lost at Sea, in which our humble protagonist, stuck in his life raft, is pestered by Dorados bumping incessantly into the boat’s bottom (and his, which after a while has no padding). He eats a good many of them, though, so it kinda balances out. And he survives. And it’s a true story. And he lives in Maine. Anyway.
Stateside, I needed something fibrous and green. And so…
Super Salad
I’m always on the hunt for anything that can mimic pasta, bread or cheese. The latter cannot be simulated so forget that. Spaghetti squash does a great job at imitating pasta, when done just right (and with butter), but nothing else comes close. Bread’s tough, but a good option is Arnold’s wholewheat sandwich thins (at just 100 calories per) or possibly something from Ezekiels.
I concocted the following from items randomly picked up at the Union Square Greenmarket today and winged it from there. The result? A dish which, with modifications, could satisfy the hungriest kid or husband. Or wife or whatever. Meaning, it has heft, and crunch, and texture and flavor and is power-packed with nutrients.
Cauliflower
Roast at 350 (or 400 if you’re in a hurry) with sprinkling of olive oil , cumin and Madras curry powder, fresh black pepper. Stir occasionally. Maybe 20 minutes or less. Transfer to stovetop pot.
Add Sunflower Sprouts.
Found at local greenmarket. Substitute any herbaceous plant with a little crunch. But think “sprouts.” The cool thing about these is that they’r
Heat. Not cook. Just to warm it all up and soften the greens.e like other sprouts but on steroids. The long white stems, when lightly heated with the whole mass, become almost pasta-like. In retrospect, I’d double the huge handful I put in today.
ADD
Greek yogurt. Not optional. Maybe a heaping dollop per serving. Provides sauciness and tang.
Dried cranberries. Critical, to counteract the feta and for color.
Crumbled Feta cheese. Semi-optional. I love it. Needed just a spoonful. If you don’t add it, toss in a few grains of sea salt.
Chicken, if that’s your thing and you need protein. It’s mine, sometimes, but not this time. I’d blacken it, I think, for this recipe. Oooh, small pieces of steak would be good too.
Roasted Garlic. Optional. But oh-so-good and healthful.
A squeeze of lemon would never hurt a dish like this.
I SERVED OVER …
Bed of mixed greens with papaya and olive oil. Squeeze awkward leftover papaya pieces (oh, you’ll have some. Papaya is hard to cut perfectly, at least for amateurs like me) onto greens. Mix.
Total calories: Zero. If you walked 45 blocks to green market and hauled all of it back and did jumping jacks between stages. Regardless, ration of calories to nutrition? Like a zillion to one.
Tags: cauliflower, dorado, feta, Italy, Rome, sunflower sprouts, union square greenmarket
