Creamy Cauliflower and Onion Gratin & Cumin-Roasted Cauliflower and Dates with Tahini and Pine Nuts by Alison Roman

I admit that cauliflower isn’t my favorite vegetable. It probably ranks #10 in my top ten. It has very little flavor and too much fiber for its own good. Cauliflower can only wow me if it’s been given a glow up by other definitive flavors. There are many ways to doctor up these bland little trees, and the two recipes mentioned here are perhaps the tastiest cauliflower recipes I’ve cooked to date. 

(Side note: I firmly believe cauliflower should not be “riced” — rice grains are rice. Don’t mess with a beautiful thing.)

The cauliflower gratin adds red pepper flakes and a whole lot of dairy to help spice things up. At first, I was intimidated by the way the cauliflower is cut — in half inch thick disks. The picture in the book shows a perfect spindly flower fitting into a 9inch cake pan, and I wondered if I could attempt the same thing. Turns out, it’s not that hard! You just need a long, sharp knife and steady hand. The cauliflower is layered with cheese and poured over with a mix of cream and melted butter. Once baked and bubbly, that’s really all there is to it. 

One miss for me is Alison‘s lack of salting directions. It’s not like her to skip telling you to add salt and pepper at pretty much every step in a recipe. Here, she didn’t add salt to the layers of cauliflower, (just to the cream and cheese) and I felt the dish was overall under salted. So feel free to add a small sprinkling of salt over each layer of cauliflower. 

I skipped the breadcrumbs in this go around, but would recommend adding them for textural contrast and added saltiness. Also, my cream mixture never solidified in any real way. I’m not sure if I didn’t keep in the oven for long enough, or if the cream should truly stay in liquid form, but beware if you plan to bake and then transport this dish to a Friendsgiving — cream WILL spill out the sides if you’re not careful. 

Above all, the cumin-roasted cauliflower recipe truly wins the contest (yep, it’s a contest now). I made it as our vegetable side dish for Thanksgiving, and much to my surprise, Jordan said it was his favorite part of the entire meal. We had Alison’s stuffing, a turkey, two kinds of potatoes, and still, he liked the cauliflower the most. Believe me when I say, that’s a powerful statement coming from him. 

What made the cumin roasted cauliflower so great was the variety of flavors and textures used. Cauliflower gets broken down into tiny florets and roasted with cumin seeds until crispy and charred in some places. Part way through, dates are added to the roasting sheet, bringing a sweetness that nicely contrasts with the acid from the white wine vinegar and creaminess of the tahini. Cilantro makes this dish sing. I admit to skipping mint and pine nuts due to cost, but in no way did I feel like this dish lacked anything. Mint and pine nuts would have only elevated it further. 

178 and 179 recipes cooked, 46 to go.

Hard-Roasted Spiced Cauliflower by Alison Roman

I’m just not a cauliflower person. Sadly, no amount of fancy spices will change that fact. Something about the taste (or lack thereof), and the excessive amount of fiber packed into such tiny florets. I don’t love turmeric either, the taste is a little too funky and lingers a little too long. The two main ingredients in this dish are cauliflower and turmeric. If those two ingredients are your jam, then this is your dish! It just wasn’t mine.  

But if I was a cauliflower fan, here’s what I would appreciate about this recipe:

  1. Alison tells you to break up the cauliflower into very small florets, “about the size of a large bean.” The tiny size of the florets makes everything feel more delicate, and therefore more fancy. Plus, you can nibble on it instead of getting a whole mouthful of cauliflower. 

  2. Cauliflower alone has almost no flavor, but Alison’s combination of spices make this different from boring cauliflower. She combines fennel seeds, garlic cloves, coriander, turmeric, salt and pepper. I imagine it would go well with a Roast chicken, a curry or a homemade Indian butter chicken. 

  3. This is another one of those veggies that can be served at room temp. If you’re making a large meal, you can make this one first and let it hang out while you cook everything else. 

10 recipes cooked, 215 recipes to go.