"cauliflower" news and stories

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.

Growing up, the only form in which I saw cauliflower (or maybe just the only way my mom could get me to eat it!) was steamed and covered in nice thick, white sauce. Now, while I can admit that I still think it's delicious, I'd much rather prefer eating roasted cauliflower.

According to Gourmet Magazine, "Blasting cauliflower florets in a hot over concentrates their natural sweetness, turning them into something akin to vegetable candy."

Did you know that vinegar can keep cauliflower snow white and broccoli as green as grass?

My friends make fun of me because I find the internet hilarious. I can't help it. I love LOLcats, Rickrolling, and, of course, The FAIL Blog (and FAIL Dogs). For those unfamiliar with the FAIL trend, it's basically when people find funny pictures of things not working as planned, and then label them "FAIL."

Reading The FAIL Blog has me thinking about all of my personal food FAILS, and how funny FAILS can be when they happen to you. The blog has some pretty awesome food pictures, such as this Salad FAIL, this Vending FAIL and this Dogfood FAIL. One of my favorite cooking blogs, Jumbo Empanadas, also wrote a FAIL post about a strawberry cheesecake -- though it certainly didn't look like a FAIL to me.

I think my biggest cooking FAIL was an attempt to make a cauliflower mash with beautiful purple and yellow cauliflower. Somehow, I thought that I could make it wasabi flavored because you can do that with normal mashed potatoes. I was very wrong, and they turned out disgusting. Please, make me feel less badly: share your FAIL food experiences with us.

You probably won't win any nutrition awards for this meal (its painfully whitish-tan color reminds us that there aren't many rich nutrients hidden in the dish), but no matter - it's still a delicious dinner choice for meat eaters and veggies alike.

The recipe does call for anchovy filets, so simply omit those if you're a vegetarian (unfortunately, though, anchovies are known to produce a certain je ne se quoi in foods that is hard to reproduce). But there's nothing wrong with a simple pasta and cauliflower dish, too.

One of the keys to this recipe is the roasted cauliflower - you cook them until they're just browned, which is sure to bring out their best flavor. And don't forget the parmesan cheese at the end for an added salty kick.