Roasted Curried Cauliflower

I will admit that I have never been a fan of cauliflower.  Maybe it was just the ways that my mom would prepare it, and as a result never caring enough to experiment with it on my own, but I have rarely enjoyed eating cooked cauliflower.  Raw cauliflower is fine, but cooked... forget it.  That is, until I saw this recipe for Roasted Curried Cauliflower (courtesy of Darya Pino's Summer Tomato blog).  I don't know what it was that prompted me to give this a try, but I am so happy that I did!
I suppose you could make an entire meal out of this one simple recipe, (and if you're like me, you will probably think about it once or twice), though it is much more meant to be a side dish to a more complete meal.  Given it's simplicity and health value, it's a perfect companion dish to other slow carb meals.  It does require some time to roast in the oven, so it's not likely something you would want to whip up in the morning to pack for a slow carb lunch at work.  But when you're not rushing to get a quick dinner out to hungry mouths, and you have some time to prepare it, this recipe for Roasted Curried Cauliflower is sure to be a hit all around!  I highly recommend it, and I keep coming back to it again and again.

I'm sorry Mom... you're a great cook, but I wish you knew about this recipe!

Ingredients:

• 1 large cauliflower
• curry powder
• olive oil
• sea salt

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 500 degrees F.
2. While the oven is warming, break up the head of cauliflower into several small pieces.  Smaller is better, because the roasting will leave them crispier than any larger pieces.
3. Throw all of the cauliflower pieces into a large bowl with a lid.  Generously add olive oil, sea salt, and curry powder.  Don't be shy with the salt and curry powder!  Put on the lid, and shake it around to evenly coat everything.
4. Empty your bowl of cauliflower onto a foil-lined baking pan, and spread the pieces out evenly.  Use a second tray if things get too crowded.  You don't want to have any overlap of the cauliflower pieces or they won't roast properly.
5. Cover the pan with another layer of foil, and fold the edges over to seal.  Put it into the preheated oven and cook for 10-15 minutes.  This is going to steam the cauliflower pieces and make them nice and tender.  If they're not soft and tender after 15 minutes, replace the cover and cook for another 5 minutes.
6. Remove the foil cover, stir the cauliflower pieces around a little bit, and roast uncovered.  Roast for 8-10 minutes, and then stir the pieces around, and then roast again.  Continue repeating this process for 30-35 minutes, or until the cauliflower tips have crisped up to your liking.  Crispy is good!
7. Remove the roasted cauliflower pieces from the tray, and serve immediately.  Season to taste with additional salt, if required.

Recommendations and options:

You really want to make sure that you put a good amount of curry powder and salt in before you start the cooking, because otherwise the flavor will be very bland and washed out.  Depending on the sizes of your cauliflower pieces, you may need to cook less or more than 30-35 minutes, especially if you like the pieces really crispy.