Roasted “Root-to-Leaf” Cauliflower
You guys know by now that I love finding ways to cut down on our food waste.
One of my favourite things to learn about while trying to figure this out in our home is discovering how sometimes the bits of food we chuck are actually the most nutritious part of the food! We buy a lot of organic fruit & veg, so I’ve ceased peeling most of our produce and instead enjoy the fact that a lot of the goodness is in the skin.
I’m trying to learn from my 3 and a half year old who gets handed a whole small apple and only gives me back the stalk, and who eats kiwi skin like she hasn’t even noticed it is gross and furry (but totally edible).
I buy carrots with the big leafy green tops and use them in place of parsley (which it closely resembles) in recipes, or to chuck in pesto. I get the bunched raw beetroot instead of the cooked so I can roast it myself and use the beet greens in place of spinach in anything because it turns out they are even healthier!
I’ve discovered the joys of roasting leftover sweet potato skins in a little olive oil and salt and making delicious sweet potato skin crisps (chips). I don’t chuck the beef bones and chicken carcass until we have got the best of the meat – the goodness in the bones out of it by making homemade stock. I even saved the port fat leftover from my the last time I made my BBQ pulled pork to use as a cooking fat (and may I say: YUM).
I’m embracing the “root-to-leaf” trend that mimics the nose-to-tail eating of meat. I love getting back to the roots of how our grandparents and great-grandparents ate, making sure not to waste food, but to embrace every bit of it. It’s a slow process. I’m still not comfortable cooking or eating certain organ meats, and I have yet to eat the kiwi skin. But little bit by little bit, I am making small changes, and I notice it in the lessening of food waste heading to the compost bin, and in the goodness and vitamins I am absorbing instead of chucking.
My favourite discovery so far has to be how to eat cauliflower leaves and stems. I never particularly enjoyed cauliflower until I discovered roasting it, but the greens were an even better hit! They taste remarkably like pak choi, and you can fry or roast them in the same way.
So here is my favourite “root-to-leaf” dish. A one-tray side or snack or nutritious lunchbox addition. My kids actually loved it – and cauliflower is usually their least favourite vegetable. And my husband and I were more than sold, too. This recipe is especially great to make with the leftover florets, stalks and greens from my crispy cauliflower steaks recipe, and wins extra bonus points since it also means cooking once and eating twice, which is always a time saver and so, in my eyes, a lifesaver! 🙂
A no-waste one-tray side dish that is surprisingly tasty, salty-sweet and soft, and may even appeal to some cauliflower skeptics (it certainly has in our house)!
- 1 head of cauliflower
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt & pepper
- pinch smoked paprika, optional but very tasty!
-
Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/gas 7. Strip the leaves off the cauliflower and slice. Break the cauliflower into small florets and slice any leftover stalk thinly. Place everything on a baking tray and toss with a few tablespoons extra virgin olive oil. Season with salt & pepper and sprinkle over a pinch of smoked paprika. Roast in the preheated oven for 25-30 mins, until everything is soft and golden. Serve hot or cold as a side, snack or a great little lunchbox addition.
2 Comments