Let me first say that I am not proud. I am not proud of having bought a bag of pre-cut broccoli and cauliflower florets in the first place. Broccoli and cauliflower are ridiculously easy to slice up, so I realize that the slight convenience is hardly worth the markup. Next, I'm not proud of waiting until brown spots had appeared on the veggies to cook them up. But I was hungry, so I pared those brown parts right off and quickly disposed of the evidence.

Then it was time to cook, and things were looking up. I decided to douse them with spices and roast them until they were, well, browned again, but in a good way this time. When I shook them around the pan halfway through, I was sure I'd overdone the spices. But once they were finished cooking, the spices had formed a savory partial crust over the florets, making for a splendid side. Redemption was mine.

Here's the method:

3 cups broccoli and cauliflower florets
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander

Preheat oven to 425º. In a bowl, toss veggie florets with remaining ingredients. Spread in a single layer on a sheet pan and roast, stirring halfway through the cooking, about 20 minutes or until veggies have begun to brown and spices form a crust.

Between my vast cookbook collection, the over 100 food blogs that I read, and the wonderful recipe web sites that I use daily, I can find a recipe for just about anything. Anything, that is, except a dish that seems suitable for dinner. Why is it that I can easily find a recipe for chestnut-armagnac souffle (doesn't that sound good?), but not one thing that I feel like eating or cooking on a given night? I usually just end up falling back on old favorites, so I thought I'd share list some here, just in case anyone out there has the same problem as I do. Chances are that many of our default dishes overlap, but maybe if everyone shares some, we'll get some new dishes circulating...

1. Mario Batali's pollo al vino cotto -- The second tastiest chicken dish a person can prepare in a home kitchen (the first is chicken with figs from the Silver Palate Cookbook, but it takes some advance planning)

2. Chicken Caesar salad -- Healthy, plus it's easy to throw in other vegetables that you have laying around

3. Black bean soup -- I use my mom's recipe, but here's a really quick one from Epicurious

4. Roasted chicken -- Carrots, onion, potatoes, rosemary, thyme, lemon, salt, pepper.

5. Roasted vegetable chopped salad with reduced balsamic vinaigrette -- I roast any vegetables I can find at 400 for 30 minutes, then chop them up, toss them with chopped radicchio and chicken if available, and drizzle with a reduced balsamic dressing.

6. Soba noodle salad -- This is always easier than I think it's going to be, and just as refreshing. Here's a beautiful one from Simple Recipes to get you started

7. Lemon fish -- Any piece of any white fish doused in lemon juice, salt and pepper, usually accompanied by a baked potato

8. Sushi take-out -- If worst comes to worst, and I really can't bring myself to cook, this is my plan.

Now, your turn! Please share your default dinner menus!

I could sit down with this dish of pasta and melted goodness- and over the course of several hours, finish it off in one day. Sad, but so true. From the minute the aroma of the roasted vegetables hits the air, you'll be counting down the minutes until this dish hits your dining room table. Though, if you're like my mom or I, you'll have a hard time keeping your hands off the veges before they even get to the pasta! Since parts of the dish can be made ahead of time- you could be eating this sinful supper in under 40 minutes. Enjoy!

There are few things I like in life better than a plate of expertly roasted vegetables. While the act of roasting veggies is fairly easy - toss bite-sized pieces of vegetal matter in a baking pan with some olive oil, salt and pepper and blast under some high heat - I have found that some people seem to have a magic touch when it comes to the old veggie roasting. When making a roasted veggie medley, my friend Cindy takes the time to roast each family of veggies separately so that they are all perfectly cooked. My sister does amazing things with a sheet pan of root vegetables, olive oil, garlic and Bragg's Liquid Aminos. I discovered just last weekend that my friend Fran is also gifted in the roasted vegetable department.

Judging from this plate of Roasted Cauliflower and Caramelized Onions, I do believe that the folks over at Sunday Nite Dinner also have the roasted veggie touch. I would very much like a plate of those multi-colored cauliflower florets right now. Lucky for me, they've posted a link to their blog with the recipe.

If you want to see more gorgeous food pics, head over to the Slashfood Flickr group, where there are 7,818 photos (and counting) for your viewing pleasure.