When I first started cooking on my own (I’m not going to say how long ago that was), butter was my best friend! Don’t worry – butter and I are still BFF’s in the kitchen, but it feels natural to expand to other fats as well. Where the standard meat and potato meal (with butter) can come together so naturally from the years of experience cooking those meals, there has been a sense of adventure in expanding our pallet to new fats, flavor combinations and always new recupes. This recipe sang with new adventure.

The recipe came from a cookbook that was a compilation of recipes from Well+Good. From the first review of the book, I knew we would be trying this recipe. Primarily because along with butter, cauliflower is the other BFF in our kitchen. Over the last 3 years, as a household, we have consumed approximately 1 to 2 heads of cauliflower per week. Maybe we’ll all come back as cauliflower in our next life.

Along with the cauliflower, there are carrots, sweet potatoes, lemon, and coconut milk – all things that we love in our kitchen. Sometimes there is nothing better than a fire roasted sweet potato with a drizzle of honey and sprinkled with salt and pepper – but that isn’t in this recipe, so I’ll move on. Today, we are boiling and then processing the carrot and sweet potato into a smooth puree and topping with a roasted cauliflower steak and fresh paraley – and we are ready to dine.

We made this meal when Eric’s mom was coming over for a visit. Not only was the food bright and colorful, but we served it on colorful plates, chargers, and placemats and the energy of the meal and the moment felt fresh, light and joyous.

One thing that I almost hesitate to add is that the puree itself is so smooth, creamy and flavorful, we had the urge to talk about likening it to baby food. This was not a deterrent because the flavor and texture is perfect against the crispy roasted cauliflower, but I say this with the thought for young families out there to make their own baby food from natural and known ingredients (consulting your family doctor first, of course). That is something my mom did for us as kids. With the large garden, she would blend veggies and fruits and sometimes full meal left overs and freeze them as cubes in ice cube trays. Then thaw what she needed for meals for us three kids.

We are always looking for different things to do with cauliflower – and now the new thing we discovered – caullini (like broccolini is to broccoli; caullini is to cauliflower). You cannot go wrong with cauliflower steaks – no matter what side you put with it, topping you put on it or seasoning. It always satisfies. Now to think of how we are going to prepare cauliflower this week…

Roasted Cauliflower with Carrot Puree

Ingredients:

• 1 head cauliflower
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1 Tbls lemon juice
• 1 Tbls cumin
• Sea salt, to taste
• Fresh ground black pepper, to taste
• 3 medium carrots, slices into thick chunks
• 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and coursely chopped
• 2-3 Tbls coconut milk
• 1/4 tsp tumeric
• 1/3 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp seas salt, or to taste
• 1/2 cup parsley chopped, for topping

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400° F and line baking sheet with parchment. Slice the cauliflower into 4 steaks and place them on prepared baking sheet.

Whisk coconut oil, lemon juice, cumin, salt and pepper together in a bowl and brush 1/2 of the mixture over the cauliflower steaks.

Roast the cauliflower in the oven for 15 mins. Carefully turn the steaks over and brush the other half of coconut oil mixture over them. Continue baking for another 15-20 minutes.

Place the carrots and sweet potato in a medium sized pot, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil. Cook for 20 minutes, until carrots are knife tender.

Drain carrots and potatoes and put them in a food processor with 2 Tbls of coconut milk, tumeric, cinnamon and sea salt. Puree on high until smooth. Stopping occasionally to wipe contents down the sides. If needed, add the third Tbls coconut milk, but the less liquid, the better.

To serve, spread 1/4 of puree on the bottom of the plate and top with cauliflower steak. Sprinkle with fresh parsley and enjoy.

Happy Roasting!!!

*Recipe from Well+Good cookbook.