Whole Roasted Cauliflower with a Mint-Goat Cheese Sauce

It’s been quite a while since I have posted a new recipe on my website. It’s not that I haven’t been cooking but I just haven’t had the time to take pictures, write up the recipe and upload it on the blog. Anyhow, today I made the time to roast a whole cauliflower and it came out really well. I’ve seen recipes for roasting a whole cauliflower in lots of magazines and also some Indian food sites (which are usually curried whole cauliflower) and have often thought about trying this but just didn’t get around to doing it until this morning. Of course, I took cues from another recipe and then switched it up to suit my own preferences and taste. The original recipe had too much fat in it – it had goat cheese, cream, cream cheese and feta cheese in the sauce and that would have been a bit too much for me because already the process to cook the cauliflower called for butter and olive oil.
I was originally surprised that the recipe called for white wine and literally steaming the cauliflower in white wine before roasting it in the oven. But, after I tasted the finished product I decided that this was well worth the effort. This recipe is surely a keeper in my household because it is virtually carb-free and since my husband and I are trying to cut back on carbs (being at risk for diabetes) anything that tastes good, has a healthy dose of fiber and has no carbs is perfect for us!

Ingredients for the Cauliflower:

1. One head of cauliflower
2. 3 cups of white wine (leftover wine is great)
3. ¼ cup of olive oil
4. 2 tablespoons of butter
5. Salt and pepper to taste
6. 1 pinch of red chili flakes
7. 1 tablespoon of sugar
8. One lemon
Ingredients for the Sauce
1. 4 ounces of goat cheese
2. 4-5 tablespoons of half and half
3. Salt and pepper to taste
4. A couple of cloves of garlic
5. About 10-12 sprigs of fresh mint
6. A small bunch of chives
7. Juice of half a lemon
8. ½ tablespoon of sugar

Directions:

1. Cut off all the outer leaves of the head of cauliflower.

2. In a medium sized pot (big enough to fit the head of cauliflower) bring the white wine, butter, olive oil, sugar, salt, pepper and to a slow boil on low to medium heat.

3. Add the juice of one lemon.

4. Place the head of cauliflower in this pot of hot liquid and let it cook for about 20 minutes on low heat. Keep the pot covered with a lid and halfway through this process turn the cauliflower upside down so that it cooks evenly.
5. Heat the oven at 425F.
6. While the cauliflower is being steamed, you can make the sauce.
7. Remove the hard stems of the mint because we will need to use only the leaves.
8. Peel and cut the garlic cloves in slices.

9. In a small food processor, add the following ingredients – chopped garlic cloves, mint leaves, chives, goat cheese, half and half, juice of half a lemon, sugar, salt and pepper.
10. Blend everything together to make a smooth sauce. Taste the sauce and adjust the ingredients according to your preference (more salt or sugar or lemon juice etc…).
11. Remove the cauliflower from the hot liquid and let the liquid drain completely.
12. Place some wax paper on a cookie sheet (cover the whole sheet) and then place the cauliflower on the wax paper and bake it in the oven for 35-40 minutes. Halfway through the process, turn the head of cauliflower gently so that it gets roasted evenly on both sides.

13. Serve the cauliflower while it is still hot with a drizzle of the goat cheese sauce on top.

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