Lemon Roasted Cauliflower with Dill

More gluten-free baked goods will be finding their way to this blog in the coming days, but in the meantime it's back to vegetables.

It's amazing how the simplest dishes are so often the most successful. Roasted cauliflower, with a few added ingredients: Bam! Flavor explosion! I love the way the sweetness and tartness of the lemon juice play off of the caramalized and browned edges of the cauliflower. This dish is easy, requiring very little preparation, and I have a feeling that even cauliflower skeptics will enjoy it.

Karina wrote this week about her on-again off-again vegetarianism. For reasons ranging from religion (kosher dietary laws make vegetarianism an easier choice) to ethics and environmental concerns, my own diet has become mostly vegetarian. I have no ethical opposition to eating meat - Just concern about eating meat that I can't guarantee came from happy, healthy animals who had access to sunlight and pasture and whose raising didn't have a massive negative environmental impact. Finding grassfed beef that's also kosher here in the Bay Area? Fuggedaboutit!

There's also the fact that I am the World's Biggest Vegetable Fan (tm). My appreciation for fresh produce has really grown since becoming gluten-free. I could live on vegetables for breakfast, lunch and dinner - Which one day I realized isn't really such a bad idea from a health perspective. So my meals revolve around vegetables - And beans, whole grains, nuts, eggs and goat cheese (yes, goat cheese is in a category of its own). With fish once or twice a week, almost no chicken, and organic beef once a month or so - at that particular time of the month when my body screams out for iron.

So back to cauliflower... It's low-glycemic index and low-carb, which is part of why it's so popular in recipes for diabetics and South Beach followers. It roasts wonderfully, and lends itself to mashes, gratins, latkes and other recipes that would normally use nutritionally-empty white potatoes. The flavor from the fresh dill is really wonderful in this dish, which can be eaten at hot, at room temperature, or on top of a salad. I found it so snackable that very little ended up making it to the tupperware I had laid out for it.




LEMON ROASTED CAULIFLOWER WITH DILL

1 large head cauliflower, cut into florets
2 generous teaspoons Dijon mustard
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
Juice of 2 lemons
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1-2 Tbsp fresh dill, chopped
Fresh ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 F. Place cauliflower florets in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, combine all ingredients except for cauliflower, whisking until blended. Pour marinade over the cauliflower and toss until coated. Spread on baking sheet. Drizzle any remaining marinade over the cauliflower. Bake for 30-45 minutes or until tender but not mushy. Toss once, if desired, halfway through cooking. The cauliflower should have some browning around the edges.