How to Make Stuff Good: Roast It!

With all the casserole-type things we've been eating lately, and the pizza two nights in a row, I felt like having something a bit lighter this evening. Sometimes you just want to taste, well, veggies, you know? Also, I had a bunch of stuff in my fridge that I needed to eat before it went bad.

I made a very simple plate of roasted cauliflower, roasted sweet potatoes, and steamed kale. I bought a Romanesco cauliflower at the farmer's market purely because I was seduced by its unusual and exotic beauty. Instead of being white with rounded florets, the Romanesco variety is a pale lime green, with pointy florets. It almost looks like a bouquet of miniature Christmas trees. I had no idea if it tasted any different from normal cauliflower, I just knew that I had to have one.

I can't say I noticed a dramatic difference in flavor. It pretty much tastes like cauliflower. But the revelation for me was how incredibly good cauliflower tastes when roasted. It's the perfect thing for a winter evening. Roasting transforms what is, let's face it, a normally bland vegetable into something magical - it brings out the sweetness, nuttiness, and you get that incredible caramelized flavor and slightly crisped edges. I had no idea how much I liked cauliflower until I tried roasting it. I just cut up the head into bite size pieces, tossed them with olive oil in a large bowl (enough to evenly coat all the pieces), added salt, pepper, and some crushed red pepper, and roasted them at 375 for about 12 minutes. Then I turned the pieces over in the roasting pan, drizzled a little more olive oil on top, and roasted them another 10 minutes or so.

I also roasted the sweet potatoes at the same time. I cut up one sweet potato into small cubes, and drizzled it with olive oil, salt and pepper, just like the cauliflower. The sweet potatoes needed about 5 minutes longer in the oven than the cauliflower to soften. Once they came out, I sprinkled about a teaspoon of brown sugar and few dashes of cinnamon on them, then mixed them to coat. Easy as pie.

The kale was even easier - I just steamed it and served it my usual way, with some Earth Balance, lemon pepper, and a few splashes of Bragg's Liquid Aminos. I was very satisfied and happy with this dinner - there were a lot of flavors, textures, and colors on the plate, and it made me feel like I was eating something fairly healthy without skimping on taste or variety.