Blistered Cauliflower with Ginger Lentils and Mustard Greens
Cauliflower florets blistered dark in a dry-ish skillet, folded through brown lentils cooked down with a great deal of ginger, green chile, and coriander, with mustard greens wilted in at the end.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
A head of cauliflower and not much else can still eat like a proper dinner in under half an hour. The trick that makes it fast is cooking the cauliflower and the lentils in the same pan but not at the same time. The florets go in first with barely any oil and are left alone until they blacken in patches, which takes about eight minutes and is the only part of this that needs your attention. Everything after that is stirring, and the lentils come already cooked.
The flavor is built on ginger, and I use more of it than most recipes would. Four teaspoons sounds like a lot until you taste it against a pan of lentils, which will absorb almost any amount of seasoning and still ask for more. Crushed coriander goes citrusy in the hot oil, the green chile gives a clean heat that lands at the back of your throat, and turmeric turns the lentils a deep gold. Mustard greens are the last thing in, and their peppery edge is what keeps the bowl from tasting soft and one-note.
It suits a weeknight when you want to cook something rather than assemble it, but you do not want to be standing over the stove for an hour. It also travels well, which is why half of it usually ends up as lunch. I like it in a shallow bowl with the cauliflower piled on top so the blistered faces stay visible, plenty of cilantro, and a lemon wedge on the side. If there are people at the table who want more on the plate, warm flatbread is the thing to put next to it.
Ingredients
- 1 large head cauliflower (about 1 2/3 lb trimmed), cut into small florets with one flat side
- 2 cups cooked brown or green lentils, drained (from two 8 oz pouches, or 3/4 cup dried, cooked ahead)
- 1 small bunch mustard greens (about 7 oz), stems trimmed and leaves torn into large pieces
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 4 tsp finely grated fresh ginger, from a 1 1/2-inch piece
- 5 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 green chile, such as serrano or jalapeno, minced
- 2 tsp coriander seeds, coarsely crushed
- 2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 1/2 tbsp sesame seeds
- 3/4 cup cilantro leaves and tender stems, chopped
- 2 tbsp lemon juice, from 1 lemon, plus wedges to serve
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
Instructions
- Cut the cauliflower for contact: Quarter the head and cut the florets small, about an inch and a half, slicing straight down through each one so it has a flat side. Flat sides are what touch the pan and blacken, and a bowl of round florets will roll around and steam instead. Chop the onion, grate the ginger, and crush the coriander seeds while the pan heats.
- Blister the cauliflower: Set a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat with one tablespoon of the olive oil. Add the cauliflower cut side down with the salt, in as close to one layer as you can manage, and leave it undisturbed for four minutes, since moving it early breaks the contact that does the blistering. When the flat faces are dark brown in patches, toss and cook three or four minutes more, until the florets are tender at the edge of a knife but still firm in the center. Tip them onto a plate.
- Temper the spices and cook the aromatics: Lower the heat to medium and add the remaining oil, the cumin seeds, and the crushed coriander. They will sizzle and turn fragrant in about thirty seconds. Add the onion and cook for three minutes until it turns translucent at the edges, then add the ginger, garlic, green chile, and turmeric and cook one minute more, stirring, until the pan smells sharp and sweet at once.
- Warm the lentils through: Stir in the lentils along with a quarter cup of water and press them gently against the pan so the ones that break down thicken what is around them. Cook for three minutes, until the water has gone and the lentils are hot, glossy, and thoroughly yellow.
- Wilt the greens and bring it together: Pile the mustard greens on top, cover the pan, and give them two minutes to collapse. Uncover, stir them through, and return the cauliflower with any juices on the plate. Toss once, take the pan off the heat, and finish with the lemon juice, sesame seeds, and cilantro. Serve with lemon wedges.
Variations
- Mustard seed tempering: Add a teaspoon of black mustard seeds to the oil ahead of the cumin and wait for them to pop and skitter, which gives the whole pan a sharper, more Southern Indian edge.
- Mushrooms in the mix: Brown half a pound of quartered cremini mushrooms with the cauliflower for a heavier, more savory bowl.
- Tomato and a longer simmer: Stir a cup of crushed tomatoes into the lentils and simmer five extra minutes for something saucier that suits rice underneath.
- A cooling spoonful: Serve each bowl with plain yogurt stirred in at the table, which softens the chile and the mustard greens at once.
- Chickpeas as well: Fold in a cup of rinsed chickpeas with the lentils for more texture and a heartier bowl.
Storage & Leftovers
This keeps four days in a sealed container in the refrigerator, and the flavor is arguably better on day two, once the ginger and the chile have worked their way through the lentils. The cauliflower softens overnight and loses its crisp edge, though the blistered color and the toasted flavor stay.
Reheat it in a skillet over medium with a splash of water to loosen the lentils, three or four minutes, stirring only twice. The microwave is fine here as well, since there is no crust to protect once the cauliflower has softened. Either way, add fresh lemon and cilantro at the table.
It freezes for up to three months in flat, sealed portions. Lentils freeze beautifully and the cauliflower comes back softer than it went in, closer to a thick stew than a skillet, which I have made my peace with. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, reheat with a little water, and stir in a handful of fresh greens if you want the pepperiness back.
Notes & Tips
- Cut a flat side on every floret: Contact with hot metal is what produces the blistering. Round pieces touch the pan at a point and never get there.
- Do not stir the cauliflower early: Four minutes of stillness is what builds the color. Stirring at two minutes gives you a pan of pale florets and no way to get the color back.
- Grate the ginger, do not chop it: Grated ginger disappears into the lentils and flavors every spoonful. Chopped pieces stay as hot little chunks that some people get and others do not.
- Break some of the lentils: Pressing a portion of them against the pan releases starch and gives the whole thing a creamy body, so the cauliflower has something to sit in.
- Toast the sesame seeds if you have a minute: Thirty seconds in a dry pan until they smell nutty and start to jump. It is a small step with a large return.
- Taste the greens before you salt: Mustard greens carry a peppery bite that reads as seasoning, and the pan often needs less than you expect once they are in.
Nutrition & Mindful Eating
- The cauliflower, the lentils, and the greens work as three layers here. The lentils bring the body and the protein, the cauliflower brings sweetness and texture on top, and the mustard greens bring a peppery finish along with the calcium that dark leaves carry.
- Brown lentils hold their shape through cooking and give this bowl its substance. They are one of the better plant sources of folate and iron, and the fiber in them is the slow kind that makes a bowl of lentils sit as a real dinner.
- Cauliflower turns sweet and nutty once it browns, a completely different vegetable from the same head eaten uncooked, and it carries vitamin C along with compounds from the cabbage family that give it its faint mustardy smell in the pan.
- Mustard greens taste like their name, sharp and peppery, and that bite comes from the same family of compounds that give horseradish its heat. They also bring calcium and vitamin K in a leaf that wilts in two minutes.
- Ginger, green chile, coriander, and turmeric are doing the flavoring here, and cooking them in oil rather than adding them dry is what pulls their aromas out. Sesame seeds over the top add a nutty crunch and a quiet amount of calcium.
- As you eat, look for the darkest cauliflower florets and taste one against a spoonful of the plain lentils underneath, and let that contrast be a reason to eat this one slowly rather than standing at the counter.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I cook the lentils from dry?
You can, and it adds about twenty five minutes. Simmer three quarters of a cup of dried brown or green lentils in plenty of unsalted water for twenty to twenty five minutes, until tender but not collapsing, then drain. I usually keep cooked lentils in the refrigerator or use the vacuum-packed pouches, which is what makes this a weeknight recipe.
Which lentils hold up best?
Brown and green lentils keep their shape and are what this is written for. Black beluga lentils work and look striking against the turmeric. Red lentils are the one to avoid here, since they dissolve into a puree within minutes and you lose the texture that makes the bowl interesting.
My mustard greens are very sharp. Is that normal?
Yes, and it is the point of using them, though bunches vary a great deal. If yours are aggressive, cover the pan for an extra minute, which mellows them, or squeeze in a little more lemon at the end. Kale or collard greens are the calmer substitutes and need a minute or two longer to wilt.
Can I make this in one pan if my skillet is small?
Yes, in two batches of cauliflower rather than one crowded batch. Crowded florets release steam that has nowhere to go, and they come out pale and soft. The extra four minutes of browning is the difference between a bowl that tastes toasted and one that tastes boiled.