I feel like a contestant on Chopped, staring at the mystery basket in front of me, scratching my head, thinking: “How am I going to put these ingredients together in an edible matter?”  Except I am not on Chopped and Ted Allen is not here to count me down to the last second.  I’m in my kitchen, looking inside my refrigerator which happens to be quite empty, as embarrassing as it is to admit – but that’s another story.

It’s after 7pm and I’m starving.  This is not the time for grocery shopping, it’s time for mad magic in the kitchen.  And so it happens.  I pull out beef chorizo and a head of cauliflower. In just minutes a pot of water (salted) is coming to a boil, and chorizo (beef) is out of its casing, hitting the cast iron skillet.  What’s next?  I chop an onion and add it to chorizo, gently giving the two a stir with a wooden spoon.

Next, I break down the head of cauliflower into florets and submerge them into boiling water.  The lid follows to speed up the cooking and in less than 5 minutes the cauliflower florets are ready.  They look lonely and sad.  That’s when the unlikely friendship takes place.  The florets make their way into the skillet, joining the chorizo and onions.  The florets snuggle in, soaking up all the goodness and flavors that chorizo so generously gave out.  The dish is almost ready but it’s begging for one more thing – Cojita cheese.  Slightly salty, and resembling a gentler cousin of feta, Cojita is a perfect accompaniment.

Will you give this a try?  I’m not so sure, but I do encourage you to do so!