Roasted Cauliflower

Well, any good intentions regarding "moderation" went right out the window with these addictive little bits of roasted cauliflower. I ate half the batch in one sitting. Luckily, it was all more or less healthy stuff -- cauliflower, tumeric, garlic, red pepper flakes, olive oil, and a dash of salt.

It looks like there are lots of different roasted cauliflower recipes out there --I made this version working from a recipe at 101 Cookbooks. It's really simple, with 30 minutes of baking time, and maybe 5 minutes of hands-on time. These little guys will definitely be on the meal rotation for 2010 (perhaps with a dhal or chickpea curry?). I might try adding a little cumin seed, too.

Ingredients
1 cauliflower, washed
3 tablespoons olive oil
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
dash red pepper flakes
3/4 teaspoon ground tumeric
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Cut the "branches" of the cauliflower away from the main stem. Discard the stem. Cut up the "branches" until they are in bite-sized florets.

Place the cauliflower in a 13x9 baking dish (or a baking sheet with a rim), spreading them out into a single layer.

Drizzle the cauliflower with the olive oil, then add the garlic, tumeric, red pepper flakes, and salt. Stir until the cauliflower is more or less coated with the seasonings. (They will get even more coated when you stir the cauliflower during and after the baking process.)

Bake the cauliflower for 15 minutes. Then, carefully pull the baking dish out of the oven (with an oven mitt) and give the cauliflower a good stir. Let the cauliflower bake for another 15 minutes.

After the cauliflower has baked for a total of 30 minutes, remove it from the oven, and give it another good stir so that it's thoroughly covered with seasonings.

Serve immediately.