Oven-Roasted Cauliflower

I never knew you could do interesting things with cauliflower! Silly me. Of course you can! When Mom and I went shopping for healthy things, we found four different colors of cauliflower! Green, orange, purple, and the usual white. I had never noticed such a thing! In a fit of veggie overload, we bought a head of each. We boiled the green and topped it with shredded cheese (which is how I'm used to eating cauliflower) and roasted the other two. The orange turned yellow after roasting, and the purple got darker! They each had subtly different flavors, and I'm definitely a fan of the roasting method. The boys weren't thrilled with the cauliflower, but oh well. I've got years to convert them!

Oven-Roasted Cauliflower (from Cooks Illustrated)
Printable Recipe

1 medium head cauliflower (about 2 pounds)
extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and ground black pepper

optional: 1 tsp curry powder or chili powder

Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 475 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.

Remove outer leaves of cauliflower and cut stem level with bottom of the florets. Cut head into 8 equal wedges, keeping core and florets intact. (That means keep the stem! It makes the pieces easier to flip later) Place wedges cut side down on lined baking sheet. Drizzle with a few tablespoons oil and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper (and spice, if using); gently rub to evenly distribute oil and seasonings. Gently flip cauliflower and season other cut side with remaining 2 tablespoons oil, salt, and pepper.

Cover baking sheet tightly with foil and cook for 10 minutes. Remove foil and continue to roast until bottoms of cauliflower pieces are golden brown, 8 to 12 minutes. 

Remove sheet from oven and carefully flip wedges with a spatula. Return to oven and continue to roast until cauliflower is golden all over, 8 to 12 minutes more. Drizzle with olive oil (optional) and serve immediately.

It's a pretty simple method, and not only do you keep every bit of good vitamins and things, roasting makes the cauliflower more flavorful! The stems weren't tough and woody at all, they whole piece was tender and delicious!

The purple was our least favorite, it was a little bitter and a bit tougher than the other two. But it sure looks fun, doesn't it?? Hooray for veggie experimentation!