Roasted cauliflower with indian spices and yogurt dressing

Sometimes, I operate under the delusion that I have excellent time management skills, that I can multi-task and that no goal is unattainable. Like this recipe, for example. I wanted to share it with you before I left for my vacation to L.A., but I got a bit distracted and failed to do much of anything. And then I thought I might even write about this while on my vacation, but who was I kidding? Not that I didn't have an opportunity - L.A. was rainy for the 4 out of the 6 days. So much for their eternal sunshine.



In any case, you know that cooking during the week while juggling a demanding job, a social life, and some kind of a fitness regimen can be quite daunting. You get home and you have other things to do like sort your mail, pay your bills, or tidy up around. Before you know it, cooking starts to sound like a chore and not anything remotely pleasant and you find yourself dialing your favorite take-out. Sometimes, it's just easier not to be bothered and just throw in the towel.



But sometimes, a dish comes along that not only asks for minimal hand-on time, but cooks by itself happily and quietly. You throw a few ingredients together and magically, with a little heat, the meal transforms itself from something relatively pedestrian to something of a treat. Did I mention it was healthy and budget friendly too?



In fact, this cauliflower is so good, that I implore you to drop everything you're doing and run to the grocery store for the ingredients you might need. It's that good and that easy. You make a dressing with the oil and the spices, pour over the cauliflower, being sure to coat it well and roast for an hour at 400 degrees. It couldn't possibly be less work. And yet it'll taste like a very sophisticated dish - precisely the effect you might be going for at an impromptu dinner party, where your guests, not devout vegetable eaters, not only serve themselves seconds, but confess that you can make any vegetable taste good and should you make them an entirely vegetarian meal, they wouldn't mind one bit. Now, that's high praise in my book.



Roasted Cauliflower with Indian Spices and Yogurt Dressing

Ingredients:

For the cauliflower:
1 head (2 lbs) cauliflower
4 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1 tsp hot ground pepper
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp sambar powder

For the yogurt dressing:
1 cup yogurt
1 tbsp chopped dill
1 tbsp minced mint (or just use cilantro without the dill or mint)
½ tsp cumin
½ tsp salt

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Cut the cauliflower ins small pieces and place into a deep bowl or a plastic bag.

In a cup with a spout, mix the dry ingredients with the olive oil and drizzle over the cauliflower. Mix well and allow the dressing to coat cauliflower evenly.

Spread the cauliflower on a 9x13" baking dish and bake for 1 hour.

While cauliflower is cooking, combine yogurt, dill, mint, cumin and salt together and keep cool (like the refrigerator).

When cauliflower is done, remove it from the oven, and serve immediately with the yogurt sauce drizzled over it or on a side.