Cauliflower basil pasta

Yep, that sounds weird from the get go. Truly, I think cauliflower is massively underestimated in the vegetable world. It's a superfantastic "filler" veggie that has a mild flavor and willingly takes on the flavors of whatever you cook it with. It contains many of the same nutrients that its relative, broccoli, does, including loads of B vitamins,phosphorus, and potassium. Learn to like it. Not with ranch dip though...that's like putting on a raincoat and then punching holes in it before you go out in the storm.

As usual, I end up creating different foods because I look at the clock and realize it's time to make dinner, and then look in the fridge and realize I'm terrible at meal planning and coordinating grocery shopping with recipes. So...it's a mess of pulling together what I have laying around. Thankfully, fresh and frozen veggies are usually on hand, as well as pasta. The never failing pasta. We alternate between some gluten free multigrain varieties (I'm still working out my frustrating at the gluten allergy trend and truth that I think we shouldn't inhale wheat), whole grain wheat-based, and the basic vegetable infused kind that are multicolored and really flavorful. I had whole grain penne on hand, as well as a 1/4 box of some vegetable infused frilly looking noodle (sorry, I am just fluent in noodle names). I mixed them so we would have leftovers.

Ok I'm sure this sounds like a novella version of a recipe, but please realize I don't measure things, and have to run through the actual process to remember the ingredients because I round them up as I go along. I'll try to be more conventional from here on out.

INGREDIENTS:
olive oil (between 2-4 T I'd say, just have the bottle available to add as you go)
3-5 garlic cloves, minced (depends how much you love garlic...I definitely used 5, though some were small)
white wine (cooking wine for the recipe...though I was drinking white wine while cooking)
15 (ha ok that's an arbitrary guess...but its around there) fresh basil leaves, slightly torn into pieces
cauliflower, cut or broken into smallish pieces without a lot of stem-probably 1 1/2-2 C worth? I  
         suppose you could use a bag of frozen cauliflower if you wanted to.
1 can of quartered artichoke hearts, mostly drained
sliced black olives (i used canned, and didn't completely drain them)-close to a 1/4 C
1/2 C or so of fresh spinach leaves, torn-feel free to use more of this.
 10 or so cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
coarse sea salt-maybe 1/4 teaspoon?


HOW TO:

I began by heating a tablespoon or two of olive oil and adding the garlic. I don't brown the garlic, just pull the flavor out of it. Only takes a minute or two. I added the basil leaves and cauliflower, mixed them around to coat them with the oil (you can add more here...don't worry, it's a healthy fat, and the only fat in this dish!), and then added a small bit of the white wine. Just enough to coat the bottom of the pan to help cook things through and avoid early browning. I let these things simmer, so to say, for several minutes, allowing the basil to flavor the cauliflower and most of the wine to be absorbed. When the cauliflower showed signs of browning (which is good-I like to brown it a small bit) I added the artichokes and olives. The small amount of liquid I included from these two canned items helped to keep things juicy but not soaked. I know, that's not very exact. I added some sea salt around this time and then let this mixture cook for a couple minutes before adding the spinach and cherry tomatoes. I do stir things often to make sure all the veggies are evenly coated and exposed to the basil and garlic. I also added some more olive oil once or twice (small bit at a time, like a tablespoon). 
Dishes like this, where the flavor sinks in over time, I like to let set on a super low heat setting for 5 or 10 minutes until the dinner table is set, pasta is cooked, etc.
When your pasta is ready, you only need to coat it with enough olive oil to prevent sticking, or butter or whatever you like to use. I think I sprayed mine with canola and tossed it around a bit. Plop some noodles on a plate, and plop the cauliflower etc mixture on top, and mix, don't mix, whatever works. Add salt and pepper to taste, and learn the potential of cauliflower.

I must admit I'm always slightly nervous that these randomly created dishes won't turn out as well when I try to pass them along as "recipes"...I worry I forgot to list an ingredient I added without thinking or something. So good luck....it's pasta, it can't go all that wrong, right?