A Cauliflower Haiku

I’ve always had a special place in my heart for cauliflower. My mom made it a hundred ways — spicy curries, sautees with potatoes and peas, even whole cauliflower roasts with an Indian spice rub — and I ate them all with glee. So it was surprising to realize that while I’ve roasted vegetables aplenty, I had yet to write an ode to the cauliflower on this here blog. Well …

Cauliflower roasts
so well with lemon, oil, salt,
pepper, red and black.

(In case you didn’t already know, I am a Haiku-writing champion.)

I kid you not: I ate a whole plate of this yesterday. Chop a head of cauliflower, toss on a baking sheet with the juice of one lemon (the lemon I used was already zested, but you could use the zest too), a 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes (add more for a pronounced kick — these were a little mild), salt and pepper to taste and enough olive oil to coat all of the florets.

Roast at 425˚F for 35-40 minutes, until the florets are browned.

You could add any number of things to the cauliflower once it’s cooked: olives, capers (or both), toasted pine nuts, 3 cloves of minced garlic, shredded Parmesan or Pecorino or even a little crumbled Feta. You could also toss in some chopped fresh sage, tarragon or thyme before roasting or parsley after.