Monday, January 28, 2013

Parmesan-Roasted Cauliflower



Hush, dear readers, there, there. I know I've been a very derelict sort of blogger, but let me make it up to you by offering you some words of wisdom: Eat your veggies.

Yeah, that's pretty much it, sorry.  Hey, I'm a food blogger, not the Dalai Lama. HOWEVER. Here's a recipe that should make eating your veggies a real treat, even for the hardcore carnivores among you. And by you, I mean us. Okay, me.


This easy, breezy Cover Girl recipe makes a healthy and delicious treat that helps you weather a month of year-end reports, sniffles, sick cats and the usual post-holiday penance diet. It will also help you (and again, by you, I mean me) deal with the official declaration of January as a Cheetos-free month.

Oh, and another bonus? This wonderful little recipe gave me a chance to test-drive my beautiful new convection oven.  I'd never cooked with convection before, and let me tell you, it is some kind of awesome. This month, I've also managed to make some homemade chicken stock, beef stock and shrimp stock, now all neatly stored in my big, new freezer.

Oh, yes, I am loving January so far. The best part? A great debut event by Moveable Feast, which I'll tell you all about in my next entry.  Which will won't take nearly this long to appear. I promise.

In the meantime, I will assume all is forgiven, because no one who tries this oh-so-easy, delicious and nutritious dish could possibly stay mad.

Parmesan-Roasted Cauliflower
adapted from a recipe by Bon Appetit Test Kitchen

Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
  • two small heads cauliflower
  • two medium onions sliced and separated into rings
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • cloves from 1 bulb garlic, unpeeled
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon hot pimenton (Spanish paprika)
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Cooking Directions

1) Preheat oven to 425F/250C. Cut cauliflower into florets; toss on a large rimmed baking sheet with the sliced onions and garlic cloves.


2. Season with the thyme, pimenton, salt and pepper. The recipe called for fresh thyme, but I couldn't find any.  I used dried, and it turned out just fine. But if you've got fresh thyme on hand, have at it.


3. Drizzle with olive oil and toss to combine.


4. Roast, tossing occasionally, until almost tender, 35-40 minutes. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup grated Parmesan, toss to combine, and roast until cauliflower is tender, 10-12 minutes longer.

Sorry about  the blurriness. I think the steam from the pan fogged up my camera lens.
Do NOT forget to scrape up all the toasty, cheesy bits.
5. Drizzle with the extra virgin olive oil, adjust seasoning (salt, pepper and pimenton), toss and serve.



Note: All cooking times and temperatures are for conventional ovens.  For my oven, I reduced the temperature by about 20C and cooking times by about 25%, which worked very well.

This is so good, it's hard to believe it's good for you. Here's hoping you enjoy your Parmesan-roasted cauliflower and January as much as I have!

2 comments:

  1. I'm trying this on Saturday. I love cauliflower

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, try it, it's super easy! Let me know how it goes. :)

    ReplyDelete