spicy roasted cauliflower

It's a sneaky trick making cauliflower delicious.  And like the best magic tricks, the secret is actually a very simple technique.

Let me let you in on this.  Roasting cauliflower, like roasting just about anything, makes it so much better.  And, if you've never tried it, you won't believe how easy it is.  

The most important part of this technique is to roast the vegetables in the oven at a high temperature, which allows the natural sugars in vegetables to concentrate and become sweeter.  You can see evidence of this process on the outside of the veggies when they just start to caramelize and brown.  If the temperature is too low, the vegetables will really just steam (i.e., be bored to death and turn mushy and bland as a result).  Roasting works beautifully on cauliflower, root vegetables, or asparagus or broccoli (topped with a little parmesan cheese or squeeze of lemon).

So there you have it.  The recipe for spicy roasted cauliflower follows.

Spicy Roasted Cauliflower

Adapted from Food Network Kitchens

1 head cauliflower, cut into florets

1/4c olive oil

4 cloves garlic, crushed and roughly chopped

1/4t crushed red pepper flakes

1t dried thyme leaves

1t kosher salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Toss ingredients together in a large bowl to coat the cauliflower.  Spread onto a rimmed baking sheet.  Roast for 20-25 minutes until tender and just beginning to brown.  The smaller the florets, the faster they will cook.  I recommend you check them half way through the cooking time to turn them if they are browning quickly on the bottom.

Incidentally, in these photos, I served this cauliflower as a side dish to a portobello "burger."  Try marinating portobello mushroom caps in your favorite marinade for a few minutes, until they soak up most of the liquid. Grill them just as you would a burger.  The mushroom caps should be cooked through until they are darker in color and soft.  Serve two caps per person to replace a burger patty, of course adding all your favorite toppings; we used roasted red peppers, caramelized onions, and spicy mayo.