Roasted Cauliflower

Did you know you can bake cauliflower in the oven? I will be honest, I just learned this.  I guess I just never thought about it before.  I can easily say this is one of my favorite veggies now.  It is safe to say that even those who really dislike veggies will like these.  My girls ate them and said they tasted like french fries and I realized they kind of do.  They are super easy too.

Roasted Cauliflower

• One head of cauliflower
• 1 T Olive oil
• Salt
• Garlic powder
• Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Cut cauliflower into individual florets and place on a cookie sheet.  Drizzle olive oil over cauliflower, sprinkle salt and garlic powder over it to taste. With a spatula toss cauliflower to evenly coat it with olive oil (you may do this in a bowl with a lid and shake it to get more even coverage, I just don't want to dirty extra dishes). With a fine cheese grater, grate Parmesan cheese over cauliflower.  Bake in oven for 20-25 min.  Serve immediately to preserve crunchiness. 

*There are many other possibilities for toppings. You can just do olive oil and salt; or olive oil, pressed or chopped garlic and lemon juice; olive oil, red pepper flakes and cheese etc. Have fun.

Brussels Sprouts

I have had this blog ready for recipe posts for a while but I have had a hard time picking the first recipe. There is something about it being the first recipe that makes me feel like it has to be amazing. So it has been holding me back because I can't think of the perfect one. So when my friend Brittany asked me for my brussels sprouts recipe I decided that could be my first one and then the hurdle of making the first post could be out of the way. Here ya go Brittany!

*see notes for recipe variation as seen in photograph (photo taken on Christmas 2009)

Caramelized Brussels Sprouts with Cranberries (almonds)
salt
4 pounds brussels sprouts- stemmed, cut in half and all loose leaves removed
1 red onion, medium diced
4 T butter
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 T brown sugar
1 C dried cranberries
freshly ground black pepper
1/2-1 C slivered almonds

To cook the sprouts you can either steam or boil them. To steam- bring water to boil at the bottom of a large pot and place steaming basket with sprouts in pot, cover and reduce heat a little bit and steam for 8 minutes. To boil- bring 10 C of salted water to boil. Add sprouts for about 8-10 minutes. Until medium tenderness has been reached.

In the meantime, in a large sauce pan over medium heat add 3 T of butter. Add the red onion. Saute until the onions are translucent, about 2-3 min. Stir in red wine vinegar and brown sugar and cook until liquid is slightly reduced, about 5 minutes.

Drain sprouts from water (if boiled) and add to the pan with the onions. Stir to coat and add in remaining tablespoon of butter. Stir in cranberries. Season with salt and cracked black pepper to taste.

*To make like photo. Replace cranberries for slivered almonds(or just have both). In separate sauce pan heat a tablespoon of olive oil/vegetable oil and add almonds. Toast them in the oil until golden brown. Add them in at the end and stir well.

Another option:

Oven Roasted Brussels Sprouts
preheat oven to 425 degrees
Brussels Sprouts- stemmed, cut in half and all loose leaves removed
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Place sprouts in a large bowl and drizzle with enough olive oil to be lightly coated, add salt and pepper to taste. Stir it around until everything is coated. Pour onto cookie sheet.
Cook in hot oven for 30 minutes. Stir/flip halfway through.