balsamic roasted cauliflower

I’ve been dying to tell you about this cauliflower for a while now.  Yes, cauliflower.  I can see you all closing your window now.  Don’t go away!  I promise, you won’t regret making this if you give the cauliflower a chance.  And if you’ve been making all the baked goods we’ve been posting, you could probably stand to eat some veggies.

I can’t decide if cauliflower is great because it’s cauliflower, or because it’s a blank palette to which anything can be applied.  After making this balsamic-glazed cauliflower, I whipped another head into a fantastic curry dish.  As long as you get the cauliflower all roasted and browned on the edges, and then supply just a little dash of flavor, I could eat it for days.  It’s broccoli without the oh-so-obnoxious “look at me! I’m a green healthy thing” taste.  Broccoli’s the super-vitamin show-off with its extra Vitamin A and E, while cauliflower just wants to humbly make you a tiny bit healthier with its slightly lower amounts of folate and vitamin K.

And yes, I anthropomorphize all of my foods.  I blame my parents for instilling me with an overactive imagination by reading children’s books to me every night.  What were they thinking?

But back to roasting veggies.  Is there anything else to do with them?  If those of you in warmer climates say something about grilling, be prepared for me to bop you on the head with the cute little umbrella hanging out of your glasses.  Truth is, I like most vegetables better roasted anyway.  Especially when smothered in balsamic and then sprinkled with parsley and raisins.  Who ever thought an unloved vegetable could feel so decadent?

Balsamic Roasted Cauliflower
From Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian

I love this book, mostly for the vegetable section rife with a handful of adaptable ideas for every farmer’s marker bounty you can imagine.

1 large head cauliflower, cored and trimed
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (or sherry vinegar)
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped parsley leaves

Preheat oven to 400ºF.  Put cauliflower in a large baking sheet and drizzle with 3 tablespoons of the olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast for about 15 minutes.  Flip cauliflower about halfway through roasting.  Cauliflower should be just starting to soften by end of 15 minutes, but doesn’t need to be browned yet.

While the cauliflower is getting its first roast in, combine the rest of the olive oil with the vinegar.  Remove the cauliflower from the oven and drizzle 2 tablespoons of the vinaigrette on top.  Toss.  Roast for another 15 minutes, again turning halfway through the process.

Once ready to serve add raisins and parsley with the remaining dressing.  Adjust seasoning to taste if necessary.  Dish can be served hot, warm, at room temperature, or even cold if you’re desperate for a quick cauliflower fix the next day.  Don’t laugh, it just might happen to you like it did to me.