I am a feeler. The emotional kind. Well, I guess the physical kind, too…but that’s an entire other subject. I feel, and I feel hard and deep. Down to the depths of my soul. I fall in love fast, and not only with people, but with everything around me. I’m in love with the world. I fall in love daily with songs, with art, with random things. With funny and quirky things. With being alive, I guess. But this past December, I really fell hard, harder than I have in a long time.

And it was with a cookbook. I had heard musings about Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi, a genius who owns a fabulously delicious restaurant in London that I can dream of going to…..this summer, perhaps? But no one could prepare me for the lust I was about to feel for food, for recipes, ALL OF WHICH I felt the need to make right at that moment. I swept through the pages rapidly, one by one, eyeing them all carefully, and absolutely loving every single thing I saw.

After my first round of perusing the book was complete, I literally went to the grocery store immediately, to stock up on at least 6 or 7 of the dishes. Yes, I’m aware of my intensity. This was the first recipe I made. And what a fitting recipe it was, being that hardly took any time to prepare and I could crank away at making others.

This dish possesses everything I want in food: it’s vibrantly stunning, it’s deep, sweet, soothing, salty, and pungent. Cauliflower is essentially flavorless, but is totally brought to life with the addition of saffron, raisins, red onion, and salty, briny olives. Ottolenghi has mastered the art of layering flavors, making you experience taste in a way that comes in tiny little subsequent acts, as flavors pinball off of each other and then roll back around into graceful harmony.

I love this dish, and this man is simply brilliant. I’d be in love with him too if he didn’t already have a boyfriend.

Saffron Cauliflower with Red Onion, Golden Raisins, and Olives

Adapted from Plenty

Note: Saffron is expensive and much to my dismay, there is no way to avoid it’s high price. I’ve tried. Badia makes the most inexpensive stuff, and it’s great to have on hand because most recipes that call for it only require a pinch or two. Sometimes it’s okay to omit it, but the flavor is absolutely necessary here, so I suggest you don’t skip it.

Ottolenghi suggests adding some Tahini (sesame paste) for extra flavor. I didn’t add this, and I didn’t feel the dish was lackluster in any way. But if you’re feeling it, go ahead and add some.

1 medium head cauliflower, divided into florets

1 red onion, thinly sliced

1/4 – 1/2 cup golden raisins

1/2 cup green olives, pitted and cut in half lengthways

½ tsp saffron strands, infused in 3 tbsp of boiling water

3 tbsp olive oil

2 bay leaves

Salt and pepper

4 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, picked and roughly chopped

Tahini sauce, optional

Set the oven to 400 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, toss together all the ingredients except the parsley.

Pour the contents of the bowl into an oven-proof dish, shake to even out a bit, cover with foil and bake for around 40-45 minutes. Halfway through the cooking, remove from the oven, lift off the cover, and give the contents of the oven dish a good stir. Cover again and return to finish off cooking. The cauliflower is ready when it’s tender but not too soft.

Remove from the oven, lift off the foil covering and leave to cool down a little before stirring in the chopped parsley. Taste, adjust the seasoning as necessary and serve warm or at room temperature. For an extra layer of flavor, you might like to drizzle a little tahini sauce on top.