Consider the Cauliflower

If you were asked to make a list of the top five vegetables available in virtually any grocery store, but continually overlooked by even foodish types, you would probably include that hefty, bumpy, yet attractively named cauliflower. It would fall on your list among the maligned but rebounding brussels sprout, the gem-hued but unpopular beet, and cauliflower's own ugly stepsister, broccoli. For years I looked blithely past these veggies, fixing my eyes on more simple, more obvious specimens, like bell peppers, carrots, even eggplant. I always thought that cauliflower looked nice, its bright buds encircled in a ring of pale green. It seemed like a vegetable that deserved to have its portrait painted, but not necessarily something to be taken home and eaten. Well, things have changed. Allow me to counsel you, dear reader, take it home.

But when you get home, don't, please don't, type "how to cook cauliflower" into your Google bar. I know, this tactic may have served you well in the past ("how to remove red wine stains," "how to tie a bow tie," "how to dice an onion"--I recommend all of these inquiries); but the world wide web is not, generally speaking, cauliflower-friendly. One site after another urges its readers to submit their cauliflower to hot water or steam. The result: pale, flaccid, waterlogged vegetables. As my youngest sister and her friends would say, "like, eewww." I may be going overboard here, but this culinary advice amounts to nothing less than vegetable hate speech. The hate you've felt towards certain vegetables--broccoli, brussels sprouts, rutabagas, and our dear cauliflower--has been displaced. We should be wrinkling our noses at boiling and steaming, not at the poor vegetables that emerge from these procedures.

No one, no four star restaurant chef, no opinionated food blogger, has undertaken the task of emending Wikipedia's cooking suggestions for this particular vegetable: "Cauliflower can be boiled, steamed or eaten raw." This bit of info would more accurately read: "Cauliflower becomes nearly unpalatable when boiled or steamed. Eaten raw, it's ok for starvation dieters. But roasted with garlic, it is just plain delicious."

Tossed with olive oil, garlic, and plenty of salt, then roasted in a blazing oven, cauliflower comes out all nice and toasty, tender in the middle and crisp around the edges. Dressed up with a sprinkling of chili flakes and a squirt of lemon juice, cauliflower tastes down right fancy...a side dish to dress up roasted chicken...maybe even outshine the chicken altogether. Heck, do without the chicken. It's already had its fifteen minutes of fame.

Roasted Cauliflower with Garlic and Parsley
Serves 4.

1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
three tablespoons minced garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon hot chili flakes, or more if you're spicy
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 lemon, cut into 4 wedges

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss cauliflower with olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper.
2. Spread mixture evenly on baking sheet and roast 25-30 minutes, stirring every so often, until cauliflower is nice and brown around the edges. Don't take it out of the oven too soon.
3. Toss with parsley; season with salt and pepper to taste; serve with lemon wedges.