It was only after getting this sparkly citrusy heavenly cauliflower out of the oven that I realized I had only eaten a meager lunch of 2 steak fingers and a small chicken finger, leftover from yesterday and reheated in the oven. Plus I got carried away making cookies for tomorrow's cookie fellowship at church, and wasn't watching the time - it was 7:45 before I started eating.
The unsurprising result was that I unattractively wolfed down my food. I even apologized to my son and husband, who were both eating in different rooms (yes, it was a TV night for them) for the unladylike behavior - they hadn't noticed.
I was so HUNGRY. And it was so GOOD.
So, before I turned lupine and did the unattractive wolfing thing, I managed to snap 2 pictures for the blog. Not pretty, and not professional, but maybe they will cause you to stop and take notice of a very underrated vegetable.
You gotta give it a try. You might be howling at the moon too.
1 medium head cauliflower, washed and cut into florets of approximately equal size, and not too big
1/4 cup olive oil
4-6 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4-1/3 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Place prepared cauliflower in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk the olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, and lemon juice until well blended; pour immediately over cauliflower and, using your hands or a large spoon, toss until the cauliflower is well coated with the olive oil mixture. Scoop cauliflower into a baking dish that is large enough to accommodate all the vegetable in a single layer, yet doesn't spread them out too far from each other. Pour and scoop all the remaining 'sauce' over the cauliflower. Roast in the oven for 8 minutes, then remove and, using a wooden spoon, stir thoroughly. Roast for 10 more minutes and then mix with the wooden spoon again. Roast a final 5 minutes and remove from oven. (You can now put it in a serving bowl, if you wish, but you don't have to - we just helped ourselves from the stovetop). Finally, sprinkle the cauliflower with grated cheese and parsley, and serve immediately.
