At our last Around the Kitchen Table feature, I mentioned that Natasha forces me to keep up with food trends. She doesn't just want to be on the cutting edge. She wants to make the trends!
This is one of those trending recipes. When I first saw this recipe, I was stunned. I knew you could cut a cauliflower into slices and bake them, but it never occurred to me to bake the whole thing. This is now our go-to recipe for cauliflower.
It barely qualifies as a recipe because it's so easy but you're going to start seeing this recipe everywhere (if you haven't already). It's quite flexible in terms of flavor as well. The possible seasonings are endless. I think I would avoid anything too leafy, though, like fresh herbs, because they might scorch. Sprinkling with fresh parsley after baking would be great.
Some people make a lemon or Dijon sauce for it, but we like it plain or with melted butter. After cutting, I like mine sprinkled with a little sea salt. You can bake it in any kind of pan. I have used a metal roasting pan as well as a cast iron pan and both work equally well.
If you hate cauliflower, this recipe will not change your mind because it tastes like, well, cauliflower! But if cauliflower tends to die an ugly death in your fridge because you dread cooking it, this is an easy way to prepare it. No more cauliflowericide!
Roasted Whole Cauliflower
1 head of cauliflower
high heat-friendly oil like canola or sunflower
Your choice of seasoning:
salt
paprika
smoked paprika
lemon salt
Preheat oven to 400.
Carve the stem out of the bottom of the cauliflower. You don't have to go deep, just enough for the cauliflower to sit up. Pour oil over top. Sprinkle with your choice of seasoning.
Place on baking pan and roast 40-50 minutes.
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| Carve out stem. |
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| Drizzle with heat-friendly oil. |
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| Sprinkle with seasoning. This is smoked paprika. |
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| After roasting. |
