Turmeric-Spiced Whole Roasted Cauliflower

Today is a big day for my friends Jack and Jeanine—it’s book launch day! I hope you’re familiar with their blog, Love and Lemons. It’s one of my very favorites, and I’ve been looking forward to their second cookbook for a long time.

Their new book is called Love and Lemons Everyday (affiliate link), and it’s absolutely stunning. The new book offers “more than 100 bright, plant-forward recipes for every meal.” Jeanine’s cooking style is super fresh and often inspired by the farmers’ market, and it shows.

I love how she weaves tips between the recipes, like how to freeze quinoa, and colorfully displays seasonal variations for recipes like fruit crumbles (four ways)! She even offers a giant visual grid of salad dressings, which I’ll be referencing often.

To celebrate their new book, I’m sharing Jeanine’s recipe for whole-roasted cauliflower slathered in seriously delicious turmeric-spiced yogurt sauce. Somehow, I’ve never prepared cauliflower in this fashion, and it was both fun to make and fun to eat. Want to see how it’s done?

How to Make Whole Roasted Cauliflower

This recipe takes a while to make, but each step is simple. Here’s a rundown of Jeanine’s cooking method, which ensures that the cauliflower cooks through and really takes on the flavor of the seasonings.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil to catch the olive oil and lemon juice run-off. Slice off the cauliflower stem so the cauliflower sits flat on the baking sheet.
Lightly drizzle some olive oil over the cauliflower and rub it in with your hands until the cauli is coated in a light, even layer. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes.
Remove the cauliflower from the oven and drizzle more olive oil into the crevices, then do the same with some lemon juice. Bake it for another 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, whisk together the yogurt sauce, then brush a portion of it over the cauliflower. Bake for another 15 minutes, and you’re done.
Top with more sauce, plus fresh herbs and toasted nuts.

How to Serve Whole Roasted Cauliflower

Jeanine suggests serving the cauliflower with a basic, lemony green salad, which is great. You’ll find those ingredients and instructions in the recipe below.

If you wanted to make this an even more hearty main dish, you could serve it all on a bed of warm whole grains, such as cooked farro, brown rice or wild rice, with chickpeas.

Don’t forget to pick up a copy of Love and Lemons Everyday! And please let us know how the recipe turns out in the comments.

Turmeric-Spiced Whole Roasted Cauliflower

Author: Cookie and Kate
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Yield: 4 servings 1x
Category: Main dish
Method: Roasted
Cuisine: Vegetarian

★★★★★

4.9 from 27 reviews

This whole roasted cauliflower is slathered with the most delicious turmeric-spiced yogurt! You’re going to love it. Recipe yields 4 servings.

Scale

Ingredients

1 medium cauliflower (2 pounds)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus more for drizzling
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, plus more to taste
4 cups mixed spring greens
½ cup chopped mixed fresh herbs (any combination of cilantro, mint and/or parsley)
¼ cup toasted pine nuts or slivered almonds
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Spiced Turmeric Sauce

½ cup whole milk Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon ground coriander
¼ teaspoon turmeric
¼ teaspoon maple syrup or honey
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
Pinch of cayenne pepper

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and loosely line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
Slice the bottom of the core off the cauliflower so that it sits evenly on the baking sheet. Drizzle 1½ tablespoons of the olive oil over the cauliflower and use your hands to coat it evenly. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast for 45 minutes.
To make the sauce: In a small bowl, combine the yogurt, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, coriander, turmeric, maple syrup, salt, and cayenne.
Remove the cauliflower from the oven and use a fork to gently start to pull apart the crevices of the cauliflower. Pour another 1½ tablespoons of olive oil and the lemon juice over the cauliflower, especially into the crevices. Return the cauliflower to the oven and roast for another 15 minutes.
Remove the cauliflower from the oven and spread ¼ of the yogurt sauce all over. Roast for another 15 minutes.
In a large bowl, toss the spring greens with a drizzle of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, and a pinch of salt. Set aside for now.
Remove the cauliflower from the oven. It should be tender outside and fork-tender inside. Top the cauliflower with more sauce and sprinkle with the herbs and toasted pine nuts. Slice into quarters and serve with the salad and the remaining sauce on the side.

Notes

Make it nut free: Technically, pine nuts are seeds, but they can be problematic for those with nut allergies. To be safe, substitute pepitas (green pumpkin seeds) for the pine nuts or almonds.

Make it dairy free/vegan: I haven’t tried, but I suspect that you could use plain vegan yogurt in place of the Greek yogurt. Please leave a comment if you try it!

▸ Nutrition Information

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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