Comforting cauliflower

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Close enough to hit the spot

Growing up, cauliflower was one of the vegetables I ate because I didn’t want to get in trouble. At my house, if it was on your plate, you ate it, and I don’t remember a whole lot of successful negotiations.

Today, that policy has truly paid off. First, I can eat practically anything, and find merit in each forkful, because I can always remember something worse. Then there’s the fact that particularly memorable dinner table sieges and standoffs are a reliable source of giggles at family gatherings. Confirming to my kids that “Yes, I did once have to eat a paper napkin saturated with Italian dressing” lends a certain weight to my own dinner table threats.

Many members of my Childhood Food Horrors Hall of Fame have subsequently been rehabilitated. Cauliflower made it back when I was in Israel and had a falafel Israeli style, which usually means you have a whole salad bar type arrangement of add-ons to choose from. One was deep-fried cauliflower florets tangy with lemon or vinegar and dusky with spices.

The smaller the florets are, the quicker they’ll brown

I was reminded of it in the Falafel Bar the other day. That night at dinnertime, I pulled out some cauliflower from my refrigerator. I didn’t feel like frying, but calculated that roasting at 450 F should be close enough.

(Click title below for printable recipe.)

Roast cauliflower with tumeric

4 cups small cauliflower florets
4 tablespoons good olive oil
1 tablespoon ground tumeric
2 teaspoons salt
Fresh ground pepper to taste
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro or parsley (optional)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon or lime juice

Heat oven to 450 F. Cut cauliflower into small florets. Toss them with good olive oil, ground tumeric and salt. Spread them in a single layer in a pan, and place in heated oven. Flip cauliflower pieces every 10 minutes or so until they reach the desired level of brownness, about 40 minutes. Remove to a bowl and toss with fresh herbs, ground pepper and citrus juice. Eat warm.

Done this way, the taste is earthy with a bit of sweetness - actually not that far from french fries. (Such claims do not sway my children, alas. Their cauliflower is steamed and buttered, period. But they do eat it all.)

I read the other day that brussels sprouts, too, are making a comeback. To which I can only say, “I’ll be the judge of that.”

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