Spicy Roasted Cauliflower

I had this idea to make a Halloween inspired dish from cauliflower because lets face it, it looks like brains. Perfect Halloween material right? I figured there's a great side dish or salad in the making. The problem is, cauliflower pretty much tastes like water. Not much flavor going on. It's like chunky H2O. Unless you smother it in a cheese sauce or salad dressing it's pretty bland. This recipe however is the farthest thing from bland-ville.

The cauliflower is roasted and basted in a sweet, spicy, and garlicky sauce that's so delicious that even my husband loved it and he is NOT a fan of cauliflower...he had two servings.  

Slicing the cauliflower into flat patties does a few things. One it makes them look like cross-sections of cerebrums. Which is way cool and creepy for a Halloween inspired side dish. Two, it helps infuse the sauce better because the florets are smaller bites of cauliflower. And three, it makes for quick, easy, and even roasting. 

This recipe was so yummy and the pictures turned out so beautiful that the plating doesn't look much like a Halloween dish. But like all my Halloween recipes, they can be made any time of the year, not just for Halloween, just change up the plating to de-Halloween-ify it.

This would be a perfect side dish with my Midnight Sushi with Wasabi Skulls and a cool Fangtini. Enjoy!

Roasted Brains (Spicy Roasted Cauliflower)

Serves 4

1 head of Cauliflower, florets cut into thin flats of cauliflower

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 T toasted sesame oil
3 T soy sauce
3-4 T sriracha (to taste)
1 clove garlic, finely minced (I used Dorot garlic cubes)
juice of one lime
2 T honey
green onions (garnish)
black sesame seeds(garnish)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

In a small bowl, mix vegetable and sesame oils, soy sauce, sriracha, garlic, and lime juice and give a quick stir. Note: The honey is not added at this point to prevent the sauce from burning during roasting. The honey will be added to the leftover sauce after basting the cauliflower. 

On a parchment lined cookie sheet, place cauliflower florets in a single layer. Baste one side of cauliflower flats with spicy sauce (with no honey added). Set leftover sauce aside.


Roast 450 degrees for 20-25 minutes. 

Add the honey to the leftover sauce and mix well. Add additional sriracha if desired. Or if you didn't have much remaining, make a new batch of sauce, this time adding all the ingredients at one time. 

Remove cauliflower from the oven and baste generously with the spicy sauce with honey. Transfer to a bowl or platter garnish with green onions and black sesame seeds and Enjoy!

Other Halloween recipes to try: 
Love at First Bite Linguini               Black Magic Spellcakes               Midnight Sushi

Potato and Cauliflower Gratin

It had been about three weeks since I'd last talked to my mom. Daily life, weekends brimming with things to do, obligations, homework and all around exhaustion taking hold at the end of each day prevented us from talking as frequently as we would've liked. So last Saturday was the day we scheduled to be able to talk and catch up. Yes, we actually had to calendar the phone call.
My husband and the boys were at an early morning Cub Scout event and I was out running errands when she called. I was expecting her call even though I was at the grocery store. It was early and there weren't too many folks there at that time of the morning. But despite my opinion that people who talk on cell phones in public are rude, I was one of those rude people.  It couldn't be helped or rather at least I didn't care all that much if I was being rude. I wanted to talk to my mom. We talked and talked as I shopped the aisles. The epitome of rudeness, I know. Yeah, I even checked out with my phone stuck to my ear, completely ignoring the checker! Yikes.
We talked and laughed as I made my way home. (Hands free of course!)  We talked about my boys, talked about the food, what we got on sale, and the new recipes we'd tried recently. What was good. What wasn't. She told me about this recipe, from Cuisine at Home that she adapted by adding cauliflower along with the potatoes to this Potato Gratin to make this amazingly delicious Potato and Cauliflower Gratin! The original recipe calls for Swiss cheese, which I didn't have at home, but she told me that she just uses any cheese she has on hand. So I used a blend of Asiago, Havarti and White Cheddar, since I had a little bit of each and it was incredible! Can't go wrong with Asiago and Havarti cheeses!
I made these creamy, cheesy, yummy potatoes that night and it was just what I needed to soothe my weary soul, comfort food and a long phone call with my mom. The perfect day! Thanks Mom, I love you.

Potato and Cauliflower Gratin (adapted recipe from Cuisine at Home)
Makes 8 cups

6 cups potatoes, cut into even chunks
2 cups cauliflower, cut into even pieces
1 1/2 c. heavy cream
1 1/2 c milk
1/2 cup onion, diced
1 T garlic, minced
salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste
1 cup Swiss cheese (I used Asiago, Havarti and White Cheddar)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Bring potatoes, milk, cream, onion, garlic, and seasonings to a boil in a large saucepan. reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes. Layer half the potatoes and cauliflower in a greased, 4 quart casserole dish and top with half the cheese. Repeat layering: pour milk and cream mixture on top. Bake, uncovered, for 25 minutes, or until potatoes are cooked through. Let stand 10-20 minutes before serving.