Husband Says: Salad Spinners Suck

My husband has informed me that he deserves a weekly column on my blog. He’d like to use it as a platform to voice his numerous concerns about our kitchen, but since he still prefers I don’t use his name, I’m denying him full access to posting.

This is today’s issue:

I hate the salad spinner. It’s a nuisance to clean, and that is my single metric for the worth of anything in our kitchen. I realize this is ridiculous–like judging the saws in my shop by what sort of sawdust they make–but cleaning represents my primary relationship with everything in the kitchen (except maybe the grill and the bottle opener). So I hate the salad spinner, and I take a perverse pleasure in the simple idea that it is plastic and brittle, and therefore will likely meet its end long before I do. I might even help it on its way.

I’m thinking of setting him up with a podcast. I’ll record what he says about my food, and you can laugh like I do. On the cauliflower, he waxed poetic about how the texture and sweetness balanced nicely with our salad, etc.

I wonder if he’ll ever find out I can buy salad spinners at the grocery store.

107: Grilled Cauliflower with Oregano and Lemon

In light of my recent experience at Alinea, which I promise you will hear all about very soon (and oh! how you’ll regret asking), I’m on a simple kick. No frills for the rest of the week.

Recipe 107 of 365: Grilled Cauliflower with Oregano and Lemon

Unearth the head of cauliflower that’s been cowering in the back of your refrigerator since you bought it (in March) to make the pickled cauliflower the guy you sat next to at The Spotted Pig told you about. (If you’ve noticed a trend toward saving the old things in my refrigerator, you’re perceptive.) Slice it vertically into 1″-thick steaks, so the stem keeps the florets intact. Brush it with plenty of olive oil, season it with sea salt, freshly ground pepper, and a bit of chopped oregano from the bush that’s already threatening to take over your herb garden, and grill it over medium-high heat for a few minutes on each side, until good and browned. Squeeze some lemon juice over the top, drizzle with a little of your best olive oil, and you got some vegetables for dinner. Grated parmesan cheese or a little tapenade would also make great toppers.