Nom. Crispy yet tender all at the same time.

This is my hands down favorite, easiest, most delicious, healthiest, yummiest veggie prep ever. Is that enough description to convince you yet? Doesn't take much to make me happy and this is the prime example of that.

This is the simplest prep in the world and I personally don't think enough people understand the awesomeness of a solid roasted veggie until they've had roasted cauliflower. There's something roasting cauliflower that transforms it into this perfectly tenderized (is that a word?), homey/roasted veggie that I can eat at any given time of the day. I am not at all ashamed to say that I once ate an entire cauliflower head's worth of roasted cauliflower for dinner. Yep.

Also, I have to share this story of my encounter with the largest cauliflower I ever had seen. It's best explained in this photo series:

Not the one I bought, but comparable. This photo is to show you the scale of size.

Bigger than my head, yes. I think my expression says it all.

I cut this much off to roast...

...and there was still this much left!

Ridiculous, I know.

I always liked raw cauliflower too unlike the other kids, but my love affair began with this vegetable late last summer when I was in ultra-serious amounts of training before my injury, and this was a constant staple on my dinner plate. As in, pretty much every evening and I didn't get sick of it.

The nutritional stats for 1 medium size cauliflower is: 146 cal/ 1.6g Fat/29 Carb (12g Fiber/11g Sugar)/11g Protein. That's a pretty solid cruciferous veggie. Speaking of cruciferous veggie (along w/kale, broccoli, cabbage, etc) benefits, they tend to be winners of the antioxidant and phytonutrient competition. For those of you who dig the antinflammatory and detoxifying veggies, this is the one for you. 1 serving of cauliflower also has almost 80% of your recommended daily intake of Vitamin C- who knew?

I think I've written enough of a love letter to cauliflower now. Please try it. You'll thank yourself later.

Roasted Cauliflower

*this is a very flexible recipe, pending on taste- it's not really possible to go wrong with measurements of seasonings.

Ingredients

1 head of Cauliflower
EVOO Spray
Garlic Powder & Salt to taste

Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 385ºF.

2. Spritz baking tray with EVOO spray until evenly coated. Sprinkle a light layer of garlic powder onto baking tray (this garlic will toast and brown so well later).

3. Cut cauliflower into ~2 inch floret pieces.

Tip: I find it easiest to chop the cauliflower into quarters, then work from there.

I use himalayan pink salt and garlic powder

4. Place florets on baking sheet. Mist florets with EVOO spray until evenly coated, then sprinkle a bit more garlic powder and salt on top.

5. Place baking tray in oven and roast for about 30 minutes or until florets start turning crisp and brown on the surfaces. I also like to blast the broiler setting for about 2 minutes at the end to get the surface a bit crunchier (I love "burnt" things...).

6. Remove baking tray from oven, let cool, then serve! This also keeps well in an airtight glass container in the fridge for 2-3 days.