One of my newest food obsessions this spring is cauliflower. On a recent visit to The Olive Branch, I had their roasted cauliflower for an appetizer and it could’ve easily been an entreé in and of itself! I’ve been looking for good meat substitutes that have enough density to make me feel like I’m eating something hearty and cauliflower, especially when roasted with some spices definitely makes the cut. It’s like a vegetable steak!
I’ve made this riff a couple times now as both an appetizer and main course for some of our Date Night dinners and it’s one of those easy recipes that’s quickly becoming one of those “go-to’s” when it’s been a busy Saturday and we don’t have a lot of time to think about what to make.
Ingredients
- 1 head of Cauliflower
- Olive oil
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp ground pepper
- 2 Tbs sea salt
- 2-3 garlic cloves
- Lemon (use to sprinkly juice on the roast cauliflower when done.
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Cut cauliflower head into quarters (or however you prefer to serve it). Coat the cauliflower with olive oil. Mix the spices together and sprinkle with a generous amount of the spices. I prefer to use fresh garlic, but I’ve found that if you do, the minced cloves will cause the spice mix to “clump up”, so I like to sprinkle my spices on and then rub the garlic all over the cauliflower by hand afterwards.
Bake at 400° for about 45 minutes or until you can pierce the core easily with a fork. Cut on the broiler and let char for a minute or two before serving. Squeeze lemon on the cauliflower and serve hot!
Enjoy with a glass of crisp Pinot Grigio! If you try this recipe, I’d love to know what you think!
Cheers,
Ed