WHOLE ROASTED CAULIFLOWER
Roasting a whole cauliflower is super easy and ends up looking somewhat impressive. It’s a really beautiful dish, and you can make it with as few as three ingredients: a head of cauliflower, olive oil or melted butter or ghee, and some salt. We dress it up a little more for this recipe, but it’s nice to know how to make it “plain” so you can customize it to your own tastes. SERVES 4
PREP TIME: 5 minutes
COOK TIME: 1 hour, 30 minutes
1 large head cauliflower
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, melted butter, or ghee (be liberal with it!)
3 garlic cloves, minced
¼ cup chopped fresh thyme
Juice of ½ lemon
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Remove the leaves from the cauliflower, and carefully cut off the bottom stem so that the cauliflower can sit on a flat surface. In a small bowl, mix to combine the olive oil, garlic, thyme, and lemon juice.
- Place the cauliflower on a baking sheet or in a cast iron skillet, and slowly pour the marinade over it. Rub it in as much as you can with your hands, and season generously with salt and pepper.
- Roast for 1 to 1½ hours, or until the outside of the cauliflower is very roasted and brown.
- Cut into wedges and serve.
VARIATION 1 HONEY-MUSTARD WHOLE ROASTED CAULIFLOWER: Before roasting the cauliflower as instructed, rub it with a mixture of 2 tablespoons grainy Dijon mustard, 2 tablespoons honey, and ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil instead of the original marinade recipe. Season with salt and pepper.
VARIATION 2 SPICY WHOLE ROASTED CAULIFLOWER: Add 1 teaspoon chili powder and ¼ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper to the original marinade recipe. Skip the lemon juice, and roast according to the original recipe.
