Italian Roasted Cauliflower
There is no glamour shot to accompany this post. Okay, I know, you’ve long given up the delusion of coming here for the photography–with the occasional exception of when Mattes styles, aims and shoots. But this recipe is the epitome of weeknight cooking.
It was that void of time between Christmas and New Years. Gary organized a family adventure–a scenic drive to Shenandoah National Park for a brisk hike along the Appalachian Trail. Lest you be deluded by images of the perfect family I will tell you that we have worn holes in our couch (no joke), spent a crazy amount of time on video games, YouTube had become a third parent and Christmas litter was, at the time, strewn about the house. But I digress. This was a fantastic outing that was even met with enthusiasm in the same way a salad is devoured after a week of binging on sweets.
Before we left for the day, I had the foresight to pull from the freezer trays of Beef Lasagna and Eggplant Parmesan from The Italian Store in Annapolis. I knew that we’d be hungry when we returned home and my motivation to cook had been minimal. As expected, on our drive home, I started thinking about dinner–in my defense, we hadn’t had lunch–and remembered that there was a head of cauliflower in the fridge. Google “Italian Roasted Caulflower” and voila! this recipe for Roasted Italian Cauliflower was found on Food Network. It was simple, made use ingredients I had in the house in the exact amounts I had them–1/2 cup of grape tomatoes languishing in their container on the counter, half a lemon on the door of the fridge, a tablespoon of capers (plus a little extra) from the newly opened jar. It also is the reality of weeknight cooking. A little prepared, somewhat off the cuff and minimal effort. And the kicker, it happened to be delicious.
So this is indicative of a weeknight side dish in our house. I encourage you to give it a try as a slight step up from simple roasted cauliflower with olive oil, salt and pepper. Enjoy!
Roasted Italian Cauliflower
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower cut into medium-size florets (about 4 cups)
- 1/2 c 1/2 cup grape tomatoes, halved
- 3 Tbls olive oil
- 1-2 Tbls drained capers
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 cloves garlic thinly sliced
- 1/4 lemon
- 2 Tbls chopped fresh parsley optonal
Instructions
- Adjust an oven rack to the top position and preheat the oven to 475F.
- Toss together the cauliflower, tomatoes, olive oil, capers, 1/2 teaspoon salt, a few grinds of pepper and the garlic on a baking sheet. Roast until the cauliflower browns in some spots and is tender, tossing about halfway through, about 20-30 minutes, depending on how roasted you like your cauliflower.
- Toss with a squeeze of lemon and the parsley. Serve warm.