A tale of two cauliflower recipes

Roasted Cauliflower
Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2003 Copyright 2002

2 teaspoons olive oil
2 medium onions, quartered I used a sweet onion
5 garlic cloves, halved
4 cups cauliflower florets (about 1 1/2 pounds)
Cooking spray
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley I left this out

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and garlic; cook 5 minutes or until browned, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.

Place onion mixture and cauliflower in a roasting pan coated with cooking spray. Combine water and mustard; pour over vegetable mixture. Toss to coat; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 500� for 20 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with parsley.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 cup)

NUTRITION PER SERVING: CALORIES 94(30% from fat); FAT 3.1g (sat 0.4g,mono 1.8g,poly 0.5g); PROTEIN 4.5g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 63mg; SODIUM 408mg; FIBER 5.4g; IRON 1.1mg; CARBOHYDRATE 15.4g

Cauliflower and Green Onion Mash
Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2006 Copyright 2005

1 teaspoon olive oil
3 pounds fresh cauliflower, cut into florets (about 8 1/2 cups)
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 cup chopped green onions
1 cup 1% low-fat milk
2 tablespoons butter
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 500°.

Toss oil, cauliflower, and garlic on a jelly-roll pan. Bake at 500° for 20 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Place cauliflower mixture in a large bowl. Add onions and remaining ingredients to cauliflower mixture; mash with a potato masher.

Nutritional per serving: Calories: 93 Calories from fat: 38% Fat: 3.9g Saturated fat: 2.1g Monounsaturated fat: 1.3g Polyunsaturated fat: 0.3g Protein: 4.5g Carbohydrate: 12g Fiber: 4.8g Cholesterol: 9mg Iron: 0.8mg Sodium: 215mg Calcium: 79mg
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I don't know why it took me so long to realize cauliflower is one of my favorite vegetables. I picked up two heads in a buy one get one free deal and decided to try these two recipes. Since they both required the same roasting time and temp, I made them at the same time. They both had a few flaws but with a few tweaks I think they're both winners.

The Roasted Cauliflower had a sweet flavor and the mustard was not overpowering. It had a surprising amount of flavor for something that looked so basic. However, the garlic was too bitter. I think the roasting temperature needs to be lowered and while I would probably sauté the onions again next time, I wouldn't sauté the garlic. It got rather browned during that step and the roasting just killed it. Alternatively, I might experiment with cutting out the sauté step altogether and just cutting the onion and garlic small enough to roast completely along with the cauliflower.

The Cauliflower and Green Onion Mash was delicious (I love green onions) but liquidy and not creamy. Roasting didn't soften the cauliflower as much as steaming it or boiling it would. I couldn't get it mashed very well. The milk just puddled in the bottom of the dish. I did halve the recipe but I don't think that affected the outcome.  I would leave the milk out next time, maybe add a touch of cream instead. The roasting temperature needs to be lowered for this one too.  At a lower temp,  I might be able to get it a little bit softer and it might mash a bit better. I don't think it necessarily needs to look like mashed potatoes though - I liked the texture of this the way it turned out.

Neither of these dishes had a lot of eye appeal. I left the parsley out of the Roasted Cauliflower which would help but not much.

And, as usual, I ate every bit of these cauliflower dishes faster than I care to admit.  There is something about cauliflower that once I start, I just can't stop eating it.