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Foodie Friday: Making vegetables the star of your supper

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Roasted cauliflower sprinkled with cilantro
Cauliflower is covered in spices, roasted, and topped with sauce, cilantro, and pistachios in registered dietitian Erin’s recipe – making it the true star of dinner and a standalone vegetarian main dish, too!

The Brassica family

Vegetables are often thought of last when planning a meal. Sometimes, they are dragged out of the depths of the freezer and cooked to death with no flavours added. With that approach, it's no wonder many people don't enjoy their vegetables! Well, I think it's time to get creative and bring vegetables to the forefront at meal time!

Cauliflower is one of my favourite vegetables, among my other favourites in the Brassica family like cabbage, broccoli, and kale. For some, these can cause a bit of unwanted gas, but they have many health benefits to outweigh the cons, like fibre to keep you regular, and vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants to prevent against certain types of cancer.

When the temperature starts to drop, I crave warm meals with warm spices like cinnamon and chili. This recipe draws on the warm flavours of Morocco, with a vibrant kick from lemon and cilantro. It can be served as a side (like I usually do) with toned-down lemony fish or chicken, or can be featured as a vegetarian main dish. This recipe is adapted from one I recently saw in the fall edition of the Ricardo magazine.

How can you get creative and make vegetables the star of your supper this week?

Moroccan whole roasted cauliflower

Ingredients:

  • 1 head cauliflower, leaves removed. Keep the cauliflower whole.
  • 1 tbsp Moroccan spice blend (I buy this as a blend, but it usually has cumin, cinnamon, chili, ginger, coriander, and allspice if you want to make your own)
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • Salt to taste
  • ¼ cup tahini
  • ¼ cup hot water (may need more depending on how thick the tahini is)
  • 1 lemon, juice and zest
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • ½ cup pistachios, chopped
  • ¼ cup cilantro, chopped

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400C.
  2. In a large pot, steam the cauliflower until a knife inserts easily. When finished, place cauliflower on a parchment lined tray.
  3. Mix together the spice blend, olive oil, and salt. Pour evenly over cauliflower.
  4. Roast cauliflower until golden brown on top.
  5. While the cauliflower is roasting, mix together tahini, hot water, lemon juice and zest, and garlic. This should be a thick but pourable sauce. You may need to add more hot water if it is too thick.
  6. Drizzle tahini over cauliflower. Top with cilantro and pistachios.
  7. Cut into slices (like a cake) and serve!