Two recipes with roasted cauliflower

Often my cooking focuses on a meat/fish entrée, and the vegetables on the side are kept simple. But it's also nice to spend time making a special vegetable dish, and then serve a simply prepared portion of protein.  The other night I made this roasted cauliflower dish and served it with pan-fried salmon—a very nice combination.

I love cauliflower simply roasted with olive oil (either flowerets, or slabs cut from the head, as my brother showed me), but the combination of flavors in this recipe are a great addition.  After I cooked it, I realized that I make something very similar as a topping for pasta, so I'll post that recipe after this one. In fact, this first recipe would also be quite nice on pasta, or mixed into rice or farro for a grain salad.

roasted cauliflower with feta, almonds, and olives

adapted from https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019657-roasted-cauliflower-with-feta-almonds-and-olives

about 6 servings

2 heads of cauliflower, cut into small florets

1/4 cup olive oil

Kosher salt and black pepper

Pinch of red-pepper flakes (optional)

1/2 cup sliced almonds (or roughly chopped)—toasted if desired (I didn't)

1/3 heaping cup (about 2 ounces) crumbled feta

1/2 cup pitted and roughly chopped garlic-stuffed green olives

2 tablespoons finely chopped Italian parsley

juice from 1/2 lemon (optional—I happened to forget to add this)

1.    Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl, toss the cauliflower with the olive oil. Season well with the salt, pepper and red-pepper flakes and toss again. Spread the mixture evenly onto a large sheet pan and roast until crisp and golden, about 30-35 minutes, tossing halfway through to ensure even browning.

2.    Toss the roasted cauliflower in a large bowl with the feta cheese, olives, the almonds the parsley until combined. Squeeze lemon on top, if desired.

spaghetti with roasted cauliflower and olives

adapted from Liz Vaccariello, Flat Belly Diet Cookbook

4 servings

The original recipe did not specify garlic-stuffed green olives, but I find them very convenient to use, and it's hard to go wrong with extra garlic. So, for the actual 4 cloves of garlic that get roasted with the cauliflower, I stick with smallish cloves. If you find it more convenient, you could try this with 20 ounces of frozen cauliflower (called for in the original recipe), but I've always made it with fresh.  

1 head of cauliflower (enough to yield 20 ounces of cauliflower)

1/4 cup olive oil, divided

4 cloves garlic, chopped

8-10 ounces multigrain or whole-wheat spaghetti

20 garlic-stuffed green olives, slices (about 2/3 cup) (a 4.5 oz jar is about 1 cup)

2 T. grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 t. red pepper flakes

1.    Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2.    Rinse the cauliflower, and break into florets. Toss with 2 T. olive oil and the chopped garlic and then transfer to a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 35 minutes or until the cauliflower is well-browned.

3.    As the cauliflower cooks, prepare the spaghetti according to package directions. Drain and transfer to a large bowl. Toss the spaghetti with the remaining 2 T. of olive oil, and then add the cauliflower mixture, olives, cheese, and red-pepper flakes. Toss well and serve.