Pickled Cauliflower

I just made some pickled cauliflower with this recipe. Changes: I used a 24-oz jar (2 quarts would be 32 oz) so I scaled things back: 3/4 cup of vinegar, 3/4 cup of water, 1.5 tsp of salt. I used about 3 slices of a very large (but pithy) lemon, the whole clove of garlic, and the whole 1/4 tsp of black peppercorns. I don't think I used anywhere near 2 lbs of cauliflower--I just cut slices and stuck them in the jar to see what would fit, and then I blanched those. I used white vinegar instead of apple cider vinegar, more because that's what I had than out of any taste preference, though I'm not a big fan of apple cider vinegar. I've seen lots of pickle recipes that use white vinegar anyway. So. I'll report back in 12+ hours.

Aaaand...months later, actually:
this was OK, but not amazing. I didn't let it sit all that long, but mostly--it's a lot of work for something that's not all that much better (to me) or exciting (to me) than plain cauliflower (which I will eat raw.) Perhaps if it had pickled for weeks it might be more interesting. 

Pesto! (Arugula & Walnut)

I used this recipe:
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/arugula_pesto/

2 cups of packed arugula leaves, stems removed
1/2 cup of shelled walnuts
1/2 cup fresh Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
6 garlic cloves, unpeeled
1/2 garlic clove peeled and minced
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 Brown 6 garlic cloves with their peels on in a skillet over medium high heat until the garlic is lightly browned in places, about 10 minutes. Remove the garlic from the pan, cool, and remove the skins.

2 Toast the nuts in a pan over medium heat until lightly brown, or heat in a microwave on high heat for a minute or two until you get that roasted flavor. In our microwave it takes 2 minutes.

3a Food processor method (the fast way): Combine the arugula, salt, walnuts, roasted and raw garlic into a food processor. Pulse while drizzling the olive oil into the processor. Remove the mixture from the processor and put it into a bowl. Stir in the Parmesan cheese.

NOTES: Browning garlic and walnuts on the stove is weird. I think next time I'll do both in the oven.
Too much garlic (!) Not sure if that was because my stovetop-browned garlic wasn't as cooked as it should be--it was almost burnt in places but it wasn't soft like roasted garlic is--or just a matter of amount. I'd say 4 cloves would be about right.
I added about 3/4 of a small lemon's worth of juice, and probably used a bit more Parmesan than called for. I also added it in in hte food processor instead of stirring it in the bowl.
I did not remove stems from the (packaged, Trader Joe's) arugula. I think removing the stems is more for less tender stuff.

Overall--very tasty and good.

[Spicy, Indian-food-inspired] garbanzos + kale

1 can of chickpeas
half an onion, chopped relatively small
6ish leaves of kale, sliced fine
splotches of marinara sauce (1/2 cup?)
shitload of paprika
salt
powdered ginger
garam masala
cumin
curry powder
yogurt

Sauteed onion in oil for a bit, added chickpeas and spices and fried a bit, dumped in marinara sauce and cooked a bit more,then dumped in kale and a little bit of water and stirred a bit and then put the lid on and cooked til the kale was wilted. Stirred a few spoonfuls of yogurt into my bowl before eating.

I do variations on this all the time, and I always forget what I do. (Tomatoes? No tomatoes? Garlic? Etc.) I usually do fresh ginger, but I think the powdered ginger might be even better. This has a nice hotness to it and it's evenly dispersed through the dish.