Roasted Cauliflower ,Stems and Greens

 

We all know that grocery prices have skyrocketed. This small head of cauliflower was $2.69 at ALDI.

 

After removing the core, leaves and stems  and saving them, I broke the cauliflower into florets trying to keep them about the same size.  

I tossed the florets in olive oil seasoning with Mrs. Dash, paprika, basil and  garlic powder. Regular salt and pepper will do the trick but, I'm trying to cut back on my sodium intake.

Placing the florets on a heat proof mat sprayed with cooking spray, I placed them in the oven on 400 degrees for about 20-25 minutes. I checked periodically to make sure they weren't burned.

I removed them from the oven, waited for them to cool off enough to eat and dug in. OOOO-delicious. As you can see there weren't many. That browning on the tips is not burning. It adds so much flavor.  I dipped 3 of them  in a tiny bit of Ranch Dressing just to see how it would taste. OOOO-delicious again. 

Next time I'll break them into smaller florets. That way they'll cook faster with even deeper flavor. It'll also appear as if I have more than I do. 😀

But, wait. There's more!

I wanted to know if the leaves and stems were edible. I Googled "cauliflower leaves and stems".

Yes, they are. After all I did pay for the w-h-o-l-e thing and I want to get my $2.69 worth.  I found numerous recipes online. They can be used in soups, stir fried, stocks, salads and even made into cole slaw.

That's what I did with the first cauliflower. The stems can be a little tough but if you peel them the inside is perfect. BUT!, I didn't peel them. After washing the greens and stems thoroughly, I finely chopped everything so that it would be more digestible.

 I put these fixings in a bowl, added mayo,  sweet pickle relish, a little cheese for color along with seasonings of choice and began my consumption.  It was good enough for me to want to make coleslaw with it again. Some of the recipes showed additional ingredients but I preferred to keep it simple. 

I stir fried the next batch along with white onion and seasonings. I added cooked chicken and a little sweet and sour sauce.  It was tasty. 

I didn't add a lot of "stuff" to my recipes since it was my first time trying it out. I didn't want to be disappointed if it didn't turn out to my liking and I would have wasted the additional ingredients for nothing.

That's it ***