Silk Road Cauliflower Pilaf

There's a fine line in cooking between creativity and just plain weird.   If you look at the recipe below, you'll conclude that this pilaf falls into the latter category.  But we assure you that the flavors meld perfectly from the admittedly unusual combination of cauliflower, rice, marcona almonds, and raisins.   The Silk Road now stretches to Texas.

Silk Road Cauliflower Pilaf

Ingredients

1 1/2             cup            long-grain white rice
2                   Tbs            olive oil
2                   cups           vegetable stock
12                                   cardamom seeds (not powder)
1                   tsp             cumin seeds (not powder)
1/4                tsp             chopped dried chile pepper
                                       (we used Anaheim from the garden)
1                                     cinnamon stick
1                   tsp              sea salt
2                   cups            cauliflower florets
1/4                cup              Marcona almonds, chopped
1/2                cup              raisins


Procedure

1. Cook rice in the olive oil, stirring, over low heat until rice is coated with oil, about 1 minute.  Add stock, bring to a boil.  Add spices, salt and cauliflower.  Reduce to a simmer and cover. 
2. Cook until rice is done, about 20 minutes.
3. Remove from heat, discard cinnamon stick and as many cardamom pods as you can find.  Add almonds and raisins and eat immediately.

postscript:
Frank of the beautiful site Memorie di Angelina writes "Not so weird, really, but delicious yes! In Italian cooking the combination of cauliflower, raisins and pinoli nuts (often with saffron or anchovy added) is a classic one, often paired with pasta. It is found in dishes that come from Moorish influence."