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For Quick, Fabulous and Delicious Cauliflower...Roast It!!

My sister tells me she has a hard time getting her family to eat cruciferous vegetables.  (Cruciferous veggies include broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and cabbage.)  In contrast, my family seems to really enjoy them.  Of course, I'm not above resorting to a cheese sauce if that's what it takes to get kids to eat broccoli.  And often, that's exactly what it takes.

How to Eat Cruciferous veggies

I'm going to include my quick and easy cheese sauce recipe below, just in case you have any kids in your life you need to train to enjoy broccoli. (I'm betting that even George Bush himself would have eaten his broccoli if only his mom had served it with a really yummy cheese sauce!)

However, lot's of folks who are working on healing are avoiding dairy and that means that yummy cheese sauce is out.  Never fear--there are other delicious and fast ways to enjoy cruciferous vegetables.  Lately, I've been loving roasting them.  Roasting seems to bring out just a little bit of a sweet caramelized flavor that seems to appeal to kids, and everyone else. However, the thing I love the most about roasting cruciferous veggies is that it only takes about 3 minutes of prep time, 4 ingredients, and about 20-30 minutes in the oven.  Perfect for busy folks...and who's not these days?

Here at eatthriveheal.com, we want to get the max health benefits for our meals, but we balance our healing goals with a desire to eat the highest quality, most delicious and pleasure-bringing foods available to us.   PLUS we try to find ways to prepare healing foods with minimum effort and grace!  Roasting cauliflower is a perfect way to have it all.

Quick and Easy Roasted Cauliflower

Ingredients:

  • 1 head of cauliflower  (you can also use broccoli)
  • olive oil
  • sea salt (I prefer pink Himalayan)
  • fresh ground black pepper
  • dried thyme or rosemary (optional)
  • toasted pine nuts (optional)


Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Break the cauliflower head into small florets and put them in a mixing bowl.  Pour olive over the top (enough to cover all the florets with a light coating when mixed) and add in the seasonings, but not the pine nuts if you are using them.  Stir until cauliflower is well coated.  Place cauliflower on a Silpat covered baking sheet and bake for 20-30 minutes or until florets are golden.  If desired, toss with toasted pine nuts.  (You can also add some raw pine nuts into the cauliflower about 5 minutes before removing the dish from the oven and they will toast with the cauliflower.)  I recommend adding the rosemary to the dish if you are serving it to sophisticated palates.  However, for kids, try the thyme.



Quickie Broccoli with Cheese Sauce (for your favorite kid--you?)

Ingredients:

  • 1 head of broccoli
  • 1/3 cup cheddar or jack cheese (best if raw and organic)
  • 1/4 cup cream (best if raw and organic)
  • ground white pepper
  • sea salt


Place a broken up head of broccoli in a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil.  In a small enameled sauce pan place the cheese in slices and pour the cream over.  Put the flame under the cheese sauce on a very low setting and watch closely, stirring often until the cheese is melted into the cream.  When the broccoli is just cooked (not over-cooked) drain thoroughly or the sauce will be watery and put back into the pot.  With a good vegetable knife, cut the broccoli in the pot into bite-sized pieces.  Pour the sauce over and stir in salt and pepper to taste.










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Follow Gourmet Chief and Master Gardner Sue Pipal.  She writes at Eat Thrive Heal