Roasted Cauliflower

So Thanksgiving Day 2010 has passed and we are livin' on leftovers. This is a good thing! In our house we love leftovers. And Thanksgiving leftovers are the best ever!

This year I threw in a new side dish. To my amazement it was a tremendous success! See, my family (with me leading the pack) is adamant that Thanksgiving dinner is all about tradition. We must have a turkey; there must be dressing (made the same way my mother made it and don't even think about messing with the recipe); there must be mounds of mashed potatoes; and there must be copious amounts of gravy! In our family gravy is a beverage. In the last few years we've added an awesome smoked turkey, compliments of David Miller (Werner Meats), however there still has to be a regular turkey as well. In addition to all of the above we also have homemade noodles, cranberry sauce (that's another post), rolls & butter, and appetizers (oh yeah, yet another post). I figured that we might need a vegetable thrown in there other than a relish tray. So I kept my eyes open for something that might be interesting.

And I found it on Steamy Kitchen's blog. Remember how I said in my cauliflower soup post that I pretty much loathe cooked cauliflower? (Deborah, you're going to love this.) I found out I love roasted cauliflower! Really!!! 

Let me backtrack a bit. When I made the cauliflower soup I had a half head of cauliflower left. What was I going to do with it? Then lo and behold here comes Jaden from Steamy Kitchen with a post on roasted cauliflower. I saw garlic. I saw bacon. What's not to like? Okay, I can try this.

I made it as a side dish for dinner that night and Bob and I ate every last bite! We totally scarfed it down! Who would'a thought I like cooked cauliflower? But, I will insist that we say "roasted" rather than cooked. I do think that roasting transforms it into a whole different being. The cauliflower turns a gorgeous golden color and the taste is out of this world. The garlic roasts to a sweet nutty deliciousness and the bacon crisps up and gets all crunchy and incredible. This dish simply put, rocks!

So I slid the roasted cauliflower into the Thanksgiving line up and it was a total hit! Almost all of it was gone and everyone wanted some to take home with their leftovers.

I think I have found a new favorite vegetable. And I do believe we have a new "must" for the Thanksgiving dinner table.

Thanks, Jaden!

Roasted Cauliflower Recipe with Bacon and Garlic

http://steamykitchen.com/11868-roasted-cauliflower-recipe-bacon-garlic.html
Servings: 4 Prep Time: 5 Cook Time: 20

Ingredients:

1 head cauliflower, cut into small florets
6 cloves garlic, halved
3 strips bacon, cut into bite sized pieces
2 teaspoons olive oil
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375F. On a baking sheet, toss together the cauliflower, garlic slices, bacon and olive oil. Roast for 20 minutes until bacon is crisp and cauliflower is cooked through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.