Purple Cauliflower Eater

Things are still pretty busy here so I opted for some quick meals this weekend.  Saturday I made tacos, tamales, and beans.  I cheated on most of those.  My neighborhood Whole Foods carries some Arizona made frozen tamales (Tucson Tamale Company).  I'd prefer tamales with pork rather than these vegetarian offerings, but they are pretty good.  I've had a couple of varieties, one was cheese and green chiles (Green Corn Tamale) and the other was black beans, corn, and cheese (Madison).  The Madison has been my favorite so far.  Normally I would serve tacos with Amy's traditional refried beans, but while shopping I discovered the Whole Foods brand ranchero beans.  Amy's have the absolute best canned refried beans, other brands just make me say yuck.  I have to say the ranchero beans were pretty darn tasty,  Amy's now has some competition for my bean dollars.  As tasty as they were my search still continues for a replacement for Campbell's chunky chili beef. I am pretty sure the last time I ate it was in the early 90s but I still think about it.  Most likely it is one of those things that you remember as being better than it really was.  The chili beef was one of those things that got me through college, other than ramen.

It had been quite a while since I made trofie with potato, green beans, and pesto so I made that my Sunday dinner.  That would make a one-pot dinner but I decided to make a separate side.  Purple cauliflower has crept into the store recently so I bought a head.  Never having it before I didn't know what to expect.  Yeah, it tastes like white cauliflower. It just looks weird on the plate.  After cooking it for a few minutes in water I wonder if the liquid could be used to dye Easter eggs.  I tossed the cooked cauliflower into a pan with olive oil, garlic, and onions.  This side is eaten at room temperature and I topped it with some basil.  (Thanks to The Italian Country Table for this recipe).

The temperatures are finally starting to drop here.  I will declare it officially fall now because I saw a large display of pumpkins in the store. I sense pumpkin seeds in the near future.