Sunday, February 13, 2011

Roasted Cauliflower and Onions

Cauliflower was not a very common vegetable in our house growing up.  I just remember it as a raw vegetable on party plates for dipping.  Now that I have reviewed several recipes, it appears that there is a vast amount of ways you can prepare cauliflower.  The most common is to roast or puree.  Actually, pureed cauliflower resembles mashed potatoes, but there is lots of dairy ingredients included to get it to the "creamy stage".

I chose this particular recipe because it requires very little ingredients.  The result is a simple, tasty dish that even veggie haters can enjoy.  Roasting time is about an hour but the prep time is only 10-15 minutes. This recipe serves about 4-6 people.

Oven Roasted Cauliflower and Onions
adapted from  allthatspatters.blogspot,com

Ingredients
2 tbs of lemon juice 
4 tbs olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 onions (cut into cubes)
2 tsp minced or 4 cloves (halved) of garlic
1 head of cauliflower (cut into small florets)
optional garnishes: parsley flakes, chives, red pepper or grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare a pan by lining with foil. The vegetables can be cooked in a roasting pan, 9X13 Pyrex pan or large casserole dish.

Prepare the dressing by whisking together lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper in a small bowl and set aside.  Take a large bowl and mix together garlic, onions and cauliflower.  Add the dressing and toss the vegetables, making sure all is evenly distributed.

Spoon vegetable mixture evenly into prepared pan and place in oven. Total bake time is an hour, but it will need to be stirred every ten minutes. It will be stirred for a total of 5 times.  Once completely roasted, pull out pan and garnish as desired.  Serve hot.