Roasted Cauliflower

Cauliflower isn't the kind of food you'd even think of writing about, but I have to tell you that the recipe I have here is absolutely delicious. I was in Boulder a few weeks ago visiting my kids and their six month old son, and Phil made this side dish vegetable for dinner. The rest of the dinner consisted of a Caesar salad with homemade dressing (lots of anchovies) and fresh croutons and oven baked cod, simply cooked with salt and pepper and a little garlic on top of lentils with fennel, hearts of palm slivered almonds and cranberries. What a dinner. It was all delicious, but the cauliflower could stand alone with anything. In fact, the cauliflower was done first, put in a big bowl, and was almost gone before the rest of the dinner came out.

Roasted Cauliflower

1 head of cauliflower, cut in florettes and the tough stems trimmed off
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil
fennel seeds (not too many)
thick cut bacon, cooked, drained and crumbled
squeeze of lemon

Sprinkle cauliflower with salt, pepper and olive oil, toss with your hands and put in a large pan (don't pile them up)
Cook for about 45 minutes, or until cauliflower is tender. Turn once or twice.

In the mean time, cook several slices of thick cut bacon, drain and crumble.
When the cauliflower is tender, add bacon, fennel seeds to taste (or fresh fennel), and squeeze with lemon. You're going to love this. It's fresh, healthy and a great addition to anything you're serving. Enjoy. We sat around while the rest of the dinner was being prepared and practically polished off the whole head of cauliflower. The bacon adds so much to this dish, you're going to love it.