A super simple cauliflower recipe made in a way that you’ve never seen it before. Indian flavors, two steps, pure deliciousness.

To say I have a new appreciation for cauliflower would be an understatement. Or, at the very least, an appreciation for turning cauliflower into something completely unique and different than how it originally started out. So when my friend Cathy sent me a recipe for a spicy whole roasted cauliflower, it immediately got added to my list of things to make.

Natch.

Gone are the days when we just had straight up cauliflower smothered in melted cheese. Now we’re turning cauliflower into breadsticks and pizza, risotto and mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, and steak. In fact, I even have a cheddar and bacon cauliflower pancake recipe coming soon. I made tonight’s cauliflower recipe on Friday, and it ended up coming in handy this weekend. The basic premise of the recipe is you mix Greek yogurt with a handful of spices, cover the cauliflower with this marinade, and bake it in the oven for about 30-40 minutes. It could not get simpler than that, and beyond the simplicity of the recipe, I love the flexibility of it. Although the spices I used are Indian-influenced, you could mix and match any flavor profile you want. Make a Greek version with some oregano and lemon juice. Or perhaps an Italian version with oregano and basil, with maybe some sun-dried tomatoes thrown in for good measure. I honestly don’t think this recipe can be screwed up.

I made it on a night when I needed something easy that required pretty much no thought and ingredients I had on hand already. I didn’t have a dinner plan ready, and Nick had a dance to go to that night. I made the kids a tray of roasted broccoli (they’re not cauliflower converts … yet), and this for me. Leftover ribs for protein.

Now for the cauliflower story from this weekend… I spent Saturday at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) campus in Hyde Park (more details on that coming later this week), and one of the things we did while we were there was to have a Chopped-style challenge. If you’re not familiar with the Food Network show Chopped, you’re basically handed a basket of ingredients and have to make something amazing with it. I, along with three other team members, was handed a basket that had broccoli, kale, bulgur, lettuce, cauliflower, oranges, and Greek yogurt. All those specific ingredients had to be used to create one main dish and one side dish in an hour, and we could also use any Jones Dairy Farm products we wanted, along with any herbs and spices in the CIA kitchen.

Once I saw the cauliflower and the Greek yogurt, it was a no-brainer, and I took the reins for making the side dish, while the other three team members worked on our main course.

There was a team of CIA chefs in the kitchen during our one hour of cooking time, offering assistance as we needed it, and doing some taste testing along the way. Two of the chefs were also judges, along with two members of Jones Dairy Farm. When Chef Michael came around and took a taste of my marinade (pre-bake), I watched his face for a reaction, and he said “Interesting.” I asked him “Interesting bad or interesting good?” “Just interesting. I can’t say anything else because I’m judging.”

Although I wasn’t worried, I was certainly wondering.

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