
Kounoupidi me Patates Kapamas (pr. kou-nou-PEE-dee MEH Pah-TAH-tess Kah-pah-MASS) is a simple vegan Greek Stew with cauliflower and potatoes.
You can also make the dish without the potatoes and serve it as a side dish.

Did you know that in the Middle Ages the British used to call the cauliflower “Cyprus Colewort”?
It is believed that the cauliflower originated in Cyprus, where the oldest record dates from the 6th century b.C.
Cauliflower, arrived in Europe from Cyprus by the Venetians.
It was then introduced to mainland Europe through Italy in the mid-16th century and only when King of France, Louis IV tried it and liked it, it became very popular.
Since then they began to cultivate it, especially in the region of Brittany.
You won’t find many cauliflower recipes on my blog as my children hate it.
When I was in Athens I used to say to myself that once we moved to Nafplio, we΄ll be eating cauliflower much more often and we now do.

What is Kapamas?
Kapamas is a cooking technique, usually with stewed lamb or beef.
In this recipe I substituted the meat with cauliflower and potatoes!
This is one of the recipes my mother used to make quite often.
While I was cooking it the wonderful aroma of cinnamon filled the house and evoked so many beautiful memories.
My mother did not add any wine or garlic to this dish but we love garlic so I added a clove but for some unexplained reason, the last time I started making it, I felt as if the cauliflower was shouting to me in my head: “add some wine, add some wine, add some wine”.
I trusted my instinct and the stew turned out much richer as it contributed a refreshing fruitiness that mingled well with the other ingredients and complimented their flavors.

If you don’t want potatoes, you can still serve it as a main dish (or side if you prefer) but adding the potatoes makes the dish more filling and if you accompany it with some feta and crusty bread to mop up those delicious juices, you will feast like a king 🙂

Other relevant recipes:
Kounoupidi me Hylo (fried battered cauliflower)
You can find many more Greek recipes in my cookbook “More Than A Greek Salad”, and “Mint, Cinnamon & Blossom Water, Flavours of Cyprus, Kopiaste!” both available on all Amazon stores.

Kounoupidi me Patates Kapamas (Braised Cauliflower with Potatoes)
Kounoupidi me Patates Kapamas (pr. kou-nou-PEE-dee MEH Pah-TAH-tess Kah-pah-MASS) is a simple vegan Greek Stew with potatoes. You can also make the dish without the potatoes and serve it as a side dish.
Ingredients
- ½ cup olive oil
- 2 medium potatoes
- 1 ½ kilos cauliflower
- 1 red onion, finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
- 1tin tomato passata
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- Salt and freshly ground black Pepper
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 organic vegetable bouillon
- ½ cup dry red wine
- Water to cover
Instructions
- Wash and cut the cauliflower and potatoes in smaller pieces.
- Heat the olive oil in a nonstick frying pan.
- Fry the potatoes on both sides. Remove them in a pot and do the same with the cauliflower. If necessary add more olive oil.
- After removing the cauliflower sauté the onion until soft and add garlic. Add the wine and wait a few minutes until the alcohol evaporates. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, salt, pepper and cinnamon as well as the vegetable bouillon.
- Mix and when it comes to a boil transfer it into the pot. Add water to cover it and cover the pot with the lid.
- Lower heat and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about half an hour to 45 minutes.
- Remove the lid and simmer until sauce thickens without overcooking it.
- Serve with freshly grated black pepper on top (optional).
Nutrition Information
Yield 4 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 468Total Fat 29gSaturated Fat 4gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 24gCholesterol 0mgSodium 280mgCarbohydrates 43gFiber 13gSugar 13gProtein 11g
Lenten Recipes
During the Greek Orthodox Fasting period, meat and animal products (cheese, milk, butter, eggs, lard), fish (meaning fish with backbones), olive oil and wine (all alcoholic drinks) are not consumed during the weekdays of Great Lent. Octopus and shell-fish are allowed, as is vegetable margarine, shortening, and vegetable oils, gelatin, olives, as well as honey are allowed.
Main Dishes
Ampelofassoula or Louvi (Fresh Black Eyed Peas) with Kolokoui
Ampelofassoula are the fresh green green beans (Vigna unguiculata) also known as cow peas, also called louvi in Cyprus. These beans are eaten before they mature,usually boiled and eaten as a salad with olive oil and lemon juice.
Aromatic Black-eyed Peas with Wild Greens and Quinoa
This aromatic black-eyed peas dish cooked with quinoa & wild greens, is a simple, healthy and a complete-meal you definitely should try.
Louvi – Black eyed Peas
Louvi is a healthy traditional Cypriot dish of black eyed peas, cooked with silverbeet (chard) and served with extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice.
Gigantes Plaki sto Fourno (Baked Giant Beans)
Gigantes plaki is a deliciously hearty vegan dish made with giant beans, which are cooked until soft and then baked in a delicious tomato sauce until the beans absorb all the juices and caramelize.
Greek Chickpea Salad with Quinoa and Tahini Sauce
This healthy Greek chickpea salad is a filling dish on its own, packed with protein from the chickpeas, quinoa and tuna and full of vitamins from the herbs, vegetables and salad dressing.
Vegan Chickpea Burgers with Zucchini and Bulgur
These vegan chickpea burgers are packed with spices and herbs, very healthy and seriously satisfying !
Penne with Chickpeas and Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
Whole Wheat Penne with Chickpeas, Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and roasted garlic is a delicious and healthy vegan pasta dish. A delicious summer meal.
Hoummous Soup (Chickpeas soup)
Hoummous soup is made with the same ingredients as for hoummous dip. More hot broth is added until it reaches the consistency of a soup and is served with croutons. The cooked chickpeas can be freezed, so when making this soup, I usually boil more in order to make the dip whenever I like.
Revithokeftedes (Chickpea Patties)
Revithokeftedes (pr. reh-vee-thaw-kae-FTEH-thes) aka chickpea Patties is a delicious, healthy, Greek, vegan meal.
Revithia giahni sti gastra (stewed chickpeas)
Revithia giahni sti gastra is a vegan dish with stewed chickpeas, traditionally cooked in a clay pot and baked in a wood burning oven. However, not all of us have wood burning ovens or clay pots but we can still cook it in a Dutch oven or any casserole dish in our home oven. If you don't have any of the above, use a baking tin which cover with an aluminium tent.
Koukia, Fava Beans, the Greek way
Koukia, Fava beans (Vicia faba), in Greek koukia (plural of word kouki), pr. kou-KHIA, is an easy, vegan Greek dish paired with lemon, dill, fennel and parsley, which adds lots of flavour to this healthy dish.
Vazania (melitzanes) giahni (stewed eggplants)
Vazania, is the name of eggplants in the Cypriot dialect, (in Greece they are called melitzanes), which are fried together with potatoes and stewed, to make them giahni, which is a delicious vegan and frugal dish.
Kounoupidi me Patates Kapamas (Stewed Cauliflower with Potatoes)
Kounoupidi me Patates Kapamas (pr. kou-nou-PEE-dee MEH Pah-TAH-tess Kah-pah-MASS) is a simple vegan Greek Stew with potatoes. You can also make the dish without the potatoes and serve it as a side dish.
Lahanoryzo (Greek Cabbage and Rice Stew)
Lahanoryzo is a frugal, vegan dish, made with cabbage and rice, cooked in a light tomato sauce..
Stewed Okra (Mpamies Giahni)
Fresh okra is often maligned for being slimy, but if they are handled properly, before cooked, these small, green pods will become delicious when cooked!
Fassolia Ηantres Giahni or Barbounofassoula (Stewed Borlotti Beans)
Hantres also called barbounofassoula, is a type of kidney bean with a pink speckled skin that turns brown when cooked.
Fassolia Piaz (Greek White Beans Salad)
Fassolia Piaz are white beans boiled and made into a salad. There are a lot of variations of this salad but we like it with tomatoes, onion, tuna, parsley, served with olive oil and lemon juice.
Brown Lentils with Carrots, Orzo and Caramelized Onions
This Brown Lentils with Carrots, Orzo and caramelized onions dish has been one of my family's favourite Cypriot dishes for years.
The addition of carrots and serving them with caramelized onions on top, add a lovely sweetness to the dish and an intense depth of flavour.
Greek Brown Lentils with Smoked Eggplant and Pasta
Brown Lentils with Smoked Eggplant and Pasta is inspired from my Cypriot dish called Fakhes Moudjentra. It is a light dish with a lot of flavour from the smoked eggplant as well as sweetness from the onion and carrot. The pasta is cooked in the leftover fluid, which absorbs all the flavour and adds body to the dish, making it a healthy, nutritional and filling dish.
Fakes Moutzentra – Cypriot Lentils with Rice
Fakes moutzentra is a lentil recipe we make in Cyprus and is a high protein, balanced healthy food, especially with the combination of rice.
Healthy Mediterranean Lentil Salad
Add extra flavour and texture to your lentil salad combined with plenty of vegetables and protein for a nutritious lunch or side.
Fakes Soupa (Greek Lentil Soup)
Fakes (pronounced fakhés) is a Greek vegan lentil soup with vegetables. It is of high nutritional value which makes it perfect for the cold days!
Lentil and Bulgur Spicy Salad
A perfect nutritional, light, summer side dish and why not a main dish. The Lentil and Bulgur Spicy Salad is vegan but if you are not vegan, it goes well with some Greek yoghurt.
Patates Lemonates (Lemony Greek roasted Potatoes) my way
Patates Lemonates my way, are Greek Lemony Potatoes, which is a twist to the classic Greek side dish of roasted potatoes, with a sweet and sour taste.
Patates Tiganites (Frιed Potatoes, the Greek way)
In some countries they call them potato chips and in others, French fries, fries or finger chips. In Greece, we call them "Patates Tiganites" (pr. pah-TAH-tess Tee-ghah-nee-TESS).
Penne Skordalia with Courgettes and Olives
Penne Skordalia is an easy and healthy pasta dish made with Walnut Skordalia, a Greek diip made with olive oil, garlic, bread and walnuts.
Pastitsio Nistisimo (Vegan)
Pastitsio nistisimo (pr. Pah-STEE-tsio Knee-STEE-see-moh) is a vegan pasta casserole dish made with tubular pasta, vegetable filling and topped with a vegan faux béchamel sauce. The same dish can be made vegetarian using the same filling but adding a real bechamel sauce on top.
Vegan Moussakas
This vegan moussakas is as delicious as the real one. It is layered with eggplant, potatoes and zucchini, with a vegan vegetable filling and a delicious vegan "faux" bechamel sauce.
Pilafi Pligouri (pourgouri) – Bulgur wheat pilaf with Leftovers
A very easy, healthy and nutricious main dish made with bulgur wheat and leftover meat.
Festive Rice Pilaf with Mushrooms
This Easy Rice Pilaf with Mushrooms is perfect for a festive dinner as it is tender, fluffy, and flavorful. It's the perfect side dish to accompany any meal, anytime.
Spanakoryzo (Spinach and Rice) and Spinach Risotto
A healthy vegan risotto, which is made the classic way, adding onions, leeks and aromatic herbs, which add an amazing taste to this dish!
Gemista (Stuffed Tomatoes) and a Well Balanced 3 Course Meal
Gemista (pronounced as ye-mi-STA), are Greek stuffed tomatoes and peppers filled with rice and herbs, baked in a tomato sauce. Between the gaps of the vegetables we add potatoes which absorb all the wonderful flavours of the vegetables. As potatoes need more time to bake, we must cut them into thin wedges about twice the size of potato chips.
Seafood
Htapodi (or moschious) me Makaronaki kofto (Octopus in tomato sauce with pasta)
In Greek, htapodi is octopus and makaronaki kofto is a small pasta, like ditali. It is cooked in a tomato sauce and then in the sauce we cook the pasta. It is a Lenten recipe, so during Lent no cheese is added on top.
Seafood
Octopus (Htapodi) with Mushrooms and Homemade Hilopites
Everyone who's ever eaten Greek food, knows about grilled octopus. However, at home, we prepare it in many ways and here is one where the octopus is cooked in its juices.
Octopus Salad (Htapodi Salata)
One of my favorite dishes in the whole world is Greek style octopus salad, or “htapodi salata”, which combined with boiled potatoes, green onion, parsley and extra virgin olive oil is fabulous served as a side or main dish.
Octopus Risotto
Octopus Risotto is a delicious and healthy dish, which is perfect not only for those fasting during Orthodox Lent but for our everyday meal.
Kalamaria or Thrapsala Tiganita or Gemista (Fried or Stuffed Kalamari)
Kalamaria (pr. kah-lah-MAHR-ghia), is a very popular dish in Greece and Cyprus, especially during Lent when seafood is allowed to be eaten.
Three Recipes with Thrapsala (Shortfin Squid)
Thrapsala (Illex coindetti or shortfin squid) are of the same family as calamari but much more cheaper, at least here in Greece, but equally delicious.
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Kopiaste and Kali Orexi,

Simona
Wednesday 14th of May 2014
Very nice: I like the combination of cauliflower and tomatoes.
TasteofBeirut
Tuesday 6th of May 2014
wonderful dish! so glad to discover another way to cook this veggie which we love here as well.
Anna's Kitchen Table
Tuesday 6th of May 2014
I love dishes like this Ivy! Real family food :)
Rosa
Monday 5th of May 2014
Delicious! Two of my favorite vegetables.
Cheers,
Rosa
Helen Walsh
Monday 5th of May 2014
Interesting. I've never cooked the cauliflower greens with the cauliflower...flower (?) before. I do enjoy Greek stew-like dishes. They were the best part of my mom's cooking.
Ivy
Monday 5th of May 2014
Hi Helen and thanks for commenting. When the cauliflower is small and the leaves are very tender, I use them as they are delicious.