I was browsing through Vegetable Love, a huge and wonderful cookbook by legendary food writer Barbara Kafka. The recipes are not strictly vegetarian or vegan, but it contains a bounty of ideas, methods and nutritional info for just about any vegetable you can think of. I especially like the A – Z glossary at the back of the book.
Which is what I was reading when I came across the section on cooking methods for Cauliflower, where Barbara lists the many ways it can be prepared; steamed, stir-fried, boiled, fried, and last but not least…microwaved. And then she writes: “cauliflower...is not good roasted”.
Are you freaking kidding me?! I couldn’t disagree more. Cauliflower is delicious roasted. In fact, it might be my favorite way to eat it. But to give Ms. Kafka the benefit of the doubt, I’m sure she’s expressing her fine-tuned personal taste.
My personal taste includes a pretty intense addiction to the spicy Tunisian chili paste harissa. I could – and do – put harissa on everything at any time of day, from eggs to leftovers I eat for lunch. It’s my global ketchup.
You can find harissa in many well-stocked supermarkets. But if you really want to find harissa nirvana, I recommend the one made by Moulin Mahjoub. I don’t know what it is, but to my palate it has just the right amount of smoky, sweet-heat and savory deliciousness.
You can get it at Amazon if you’re not near a specialty food store, which is where I often buy it. I’ve even seen it at Williams-Sonoma a while back.
If you love cauliflower or better yet, if you find yourself on the vegetable fence, try spicing it up and roasting as I do in this slightly Moroccan-inspired recipe.
The cauliflower makes a simple salad meal served warm over wilted spinach.
Ingredients
1 head cauliflower, separated into bite-sized florets
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt
1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained
1 small sweet onion, like Maui or red onion; finely sliced
2 – 3 tablespoons harissa
½ bunch each Italian parsley and cilantro
½ a lemon
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Spread the cauliflower out on a large rimmed baking sheet. Add 3 tablespoons of the oil, ½ teaspoon salt and the cumin seeds. Roast 20 minutes, or until the cauliflower is tender and golden. Add the chickpeas and roast an additional 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat the remaining tablespoon oil in an 8 – 10-inch sauté pan. Add the onion and a pinch of salt. Cover the pan and cook over medium-low heat until the onions are very soft. Stir in the harissa along with 1 tablespoon water.
- Pick the leaves off the parsely and cilantro and tear into rough pieces; throw them over the chickpeas. Squeeze the lemon over and toss together with the onion mixture.
- Transfer to a serving bowl and top with the feta.
You are so totally the blogging queen these days – I’m loving every single idea! I remember reading that note from Barbara Kafka a few years ago and wondering, Whhhhaaaat? Roasted Cauliflower was the very first recipe on A Veggie Venture!
Thanks, Alanna. Funny you saw that in the book, too. Now I’m going back to read your very first post – wow!
I agree with you both; roasting is one of the very best ways to cook cauliflower and this looks like a total winner!
Thanks Kalyn!
Thank you so much for visiting my site and allowing me to find my way here. Your recipes are so reminiscent of my own culinary desires… I made these roasted cauliflower steaks once and they definitely proved your theory about roasting cauliflowers.
Best, Phi
Thank you Phi. My sentiments exactly about your work! I also have a recipe somewhere for roasting a whole head of cauliflower – could be a beast, but want to try it.
I made my own harissa and served this dish to my daughter and her family. EVERYONE loved it, even the Littles!!! Thank you so much
)
Deb – how amazing are you?! Do you have a favorite method for making harissa? I’m so pleased your family enjoyed this, esp. the Littles
I didn’t have any harissa, so I served the roasted cauliflower and chickpeas over brown rice with hot mango chutney and toasted cashews. Delicious! Thanks for the great recipe idea Karen.
Mary, I’m so pleased to know you tried out the recipe – if I had hot mango chutney I’m sure I could form some kind of addiction to that too, along with the harissa. Sounds like it was a great mix! Cheers to you, neighbor
I love roasted cauliflower, what a scrumptious way to prepare it!
Thanks Laura! This is one of my very favorites, for sure.
A friend posted this recipe on Facebook, and so glad she did. It led me to your blog and your great recipes! Thank you for sharing this…I will be making it immediately!
Thank you Shawn – I hope you’ll love the cauliflower!
Just served this for diner, it was fabulous! My boyfriend and I liked it a lot
Thanks for sharing!
Anne-julie – So glad to know that you enjoyed the cauliflower!
This sounds like great ingredients for Hummus.
I made a variation of your recipe seeing it on pinterest this am. It was very good!
Amy – thanks for stopping by. I’m glad to know you enjoyed!