adding cheese always helps

cauliflower is GROSS.  unless you put parmesan cheese on it.  and then it is delicious.

(don't tell anyone: i may be a vegetarian, but i don't like all vegetables.  my top five least favorite vegetables are squash, green peppers, cucumbers, celery, and radishes.  this was not a difficult list to come up with.  a couple years ago this list would have been even longer, but i have found that if you put cheese on some vegetables, it makes them infinitely better.  even delicious.  this is one example of that.  see also: eggplant.)

one thing you will learn about me, internet, is that i really like to cook.  i guess it stems from a love of eating, but i also really like the act of preparing food.  i find it relaxing - put on a tivo-ed episode of "jeopardy!" in the background, and then chop and measure and combine and stir and make dishes dirty and then make them clean again.  usually, the more complicated the recipe the better.  well, complicated isn't the right word.  INVOLVED.  the more involved the recipe, the better.

my old roommate's mom made this recipe once when i went over to their house for dinner, and she emailed it to me later so i could make it myself.  it is from cooking light's "holiday cookbook," and i love it.  here's what you do:

1. preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. cut up a head of cauliflower into bite sized pieces.  put in a 13x9 inch pan and toss with one glug (i am channeling jamie oliver right now) of olive oil.  put in the oven for 20 minutes, checking every 5-8 minutes to toss the cauliflower around.
3. add 2 cloves of chopped garlic.  bake for 5 more minutes.  (things i have learned about garlic: it burns easily.  burned garlic = gross.  5 minutes really is enough.)  the recipe wants you to add parsley, thyme, and tarragon here, too.  i do not have these herbs.  so i do not add them.  it is still delicious.
4. take out of the oven.  while still hot, sprinkle with 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese and a couple squirts of lemon juice from one of those real lemon bottles (i clearly don't have the energy to make fresh lemon juice.  once i only had real lime.  it was equally delicious) and salt and pepper.  toss.  eat.  be happy.

this is a magical recipe because it really isn't that much parmesan cheese, but it makes the cauliflower so much better.  and roasting the cauliflower in the oven makes them kind of crunchy.  and that makes me happy.