JoeBlog

Cauliflower is one of those vegetables that I avoided for most of my life. My main memory is of largely tasteless florets in salads. As a kid, I thought of it as defective broccoli.

Then last a year a friend wrote about how she didn’t like cauliflower until she had it roasted with olive oil and salt. I had to try it. And I loved it. Now I actually crave cauliflower. Joe thinks I’ve gone crazy. I’ve always thought it a very pretty vegetable to start with, and it has a gorgeous texture that I think makes it fun to handle. The slices make lovely, whimsical trees. And now, I get to enjoy eating it too.

Roasted Cauliflower
Heat oven to — oh, say somewhere between 350 F and 400 F. Slice cauliflower about 1/8th to 1/4 inch thick. Uniformity in thickness is good, as that means an even cooking time. Toss with some olive oil and sea salt and, if you like, some freshly-ground black pepper. Roast on a cookie sheet and bake. At some point, flip the slices. I find on my thin metal sheet that the cauliflower browns on the bottom side, so beware; looks can be deceiving. Roast until it reaches the desired browness.

I have no idea how long it takes to cook. I’ve never timed it. I just check after 10-15 minutes to see if it needs flipping. The hotter your oven, the faster it will cook. I like a mix of crispy pieces and succulent pieces.

Kitchen Chick: Roasted Cauliflower.

1 cup finely chopped Vidalia onions
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
dash of Tabasco sauce
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
paprika, to taste

Preheat oven to 350? F. Mix onions,
mayonnaise, cheddar and Tabasco. Spread
into a small baking dish. Top with Parmesan
and sprinkle with paprika to taste.
Bake in preheated oven for about 30
minutes. Serve warm with assorted crackers.
This recipe doubles, triples, quadruples,
etc. very easily.

Note: if extra grease develops on top, it
can easily be blotted with paper towels.

Its that time of year and i’m hankering for some pumpkin pie. Sensing that, the marketers over at Libby sent me a recipe via meals.com.

This recipe doesn’t use any sugar at all .. very basic. I’m going to try this this weekend.

Here’s some pumpkin info: Nutrition, cooking ideas (Libby product based) and interesting.

Wait a second .. i see the catch .. its a can thats pre-mixed with the sugar! I was almost fooled. Here is a sugar free version, here , here, here

Here is the traditional Libby pie.