Difficulty Level: Easy

My husband is a pretty good sport about eating whatever I put in front of him, even the foods he's not so fond of. He rarely complains, well, maybe once or twice about the number of lentils dishes I've foisted on him. I try to keep the undesirable food elements to a minimum, but sometimes a vegetable he isn't so crazy about is the thing that is in season and on offer at the farmers' market.

Cauliflower falls into the category of vegetables he will eat, but he'd rather not. It's a pretty strong tasting vegetable, but I'm not sure that's the reason he doesn't like it. My mother-in-law is generally quite a good cook, but her weakness seems to be vegetables. Like many women of her generation (including my own mother) she cooks vegetables for a very long time, and the result is the occasional dish of mushy cauliflower. Sometimes it pays to try a vegetable again, for that reason alone. When I cook cauliflower, I often turn to an Indian recipe. Cauliflower is frequently used in Indian cuisine and the herbs and spices they use have a particular affinity for that vegetable. This cauliflower eggplant stew could easily double as one of my One Pot Meals. It's easy and economical and you can serve it over basmati rice or use some naan or other Indian bread to soak up the juice. Don't be alarmed by the long list of ingredients, as it's mostly spices.

INGREDIENTS