Delicious eaten plain. Magical used in this Ottolenghi Cauliflower Salad! Welcome to Day 15 of the inaugural Holiday Salad Marathon, where I’m sharing 30 salads in a row through to Christmas Eve. Something different to the usual sugar-loaded baking countdowns!! Though not technically a salad as such, this is a good life skill to have and a precursor to a wonderful cauliflower recipe I’m sharing tomorrow:

Roasted Cauliflower

I’ve always said that cauliflower is one of the greatest vegetables to roast, transforming from dry and tasteless to soft, sweet and juicy with terrific caramelised edges. It also requires minimal work to prepare to pop into the oven and is a lot less messy to cut than broccoli if you know the quick and easy way to cut cauliflower florets!

What you need for roasted cauliflower

Here’s all you need – cauliflower, olive oil, salt and pepper. Garlic is optional – but it really does make it even more tasty!

Parmesan flavoured option

In today’s recipe, I’m also providing a Parmesan flavoured option which also has a bit of breadcrumbs. The savoury boost from a sprinkle of parmesan along with the little bits of crunch from the Panko breadcrumbs really takes this to a level of serious tastiness! This is what it looks like – see those little golden clumps of parmesan crunchiness?? SO GOOD!

How to make roasted cauliflower

The biggest mistake most people make with roasted cauliflower is roasting at too low a temperature. We need a hot oven of 220°C/425°F so the cauliflower gets nice browning on it before the inside turns into soggy mush! I’m sharing today’s recipe ahead of a great Cauliflower Salad recipe I’m publishing tomorrow. But hand on heart, even cauliflower roasted with just salt and pepper really is delicious. And if you wanted to tart it up a bit, serve it with a Tahini Drizzle from this Broccolini recipe, or a simple Lemon Yogurt Sauce from this Roasted Pumpkin recipe. Plate them up the same – pile the cauliflower up then drizzle with the sauce, finish with a sprinkle of parsley or coriander/cilantro. It’s wonderful! – Nagi x

Watch how to make it

Life of Dozer

When Dozer sings… (that’s a nice way of saying “irritating constant barking, nagging me to play with him” 😖) These salads are in addition to my regular 3 new recipes a week. Because aren’t you bored of the usual tomato-cucumber-lettuce garden salad routine?? Click here to see all the Holiday Salad Marathon recipes to date, or sign up for instant updates and you’ll receive a free email alert whenever I publish a new salad! 🙂