Roasted Cauliflower with Garlic, and Collard Greens Miniera

It was kind of an odd dinner we had last night, to top off a very sad day. More on that soon, but suffice it to say that not much was going on in the fridge except these incredible veggies from my weekly organic produce box from The Fruitful Basket.

So I settled on two recipes that looked pretty easy--Roasted Cauliflower with Garlic, and Collard Greens Miniera.

The cauliflower recipe had me puzzled a bit because it calls for minced garlic to be tossed with the cauliflower and oil and the whole thing to be roasted in a 425 oven for 25-30 minutes.

Jeez, I thought--that garlic is gonna burn. But then I thought maybe it won't because of some Gourmet magic that will prevent it.

No magic. It burned.

So I've been puzzling over the garlic situation, because it's a great flavor to add to the cauliflower. And I think if I were to try it again I'd use my mini-blender to grind the garlic up with the oil, so that it really clings to the cauliflower, because it was only the garlic that was loose on the tray that burned--there were a few nuggets here and there that stuck to the cauliflower and were yummy.

By the way, I've never eaten cauliflower like this, and it was really tasty--I loved it. I'm not such a fan of steamed cauliflower, but heck, who needs to steam the stuff when you have this option?

Collard greens are another vegetable I'm not so keen on, mostly because the only way I've ever eaten them is cooked for a really long time so that they have the flavor and texture of slightly salty boiled paper.

What a revelation this dish is. Are you trying to get more greens in your diet? Do you love bacon? You will really really love this dish.

It couldn't be simpler. Saute three strips of minced bacon (I used four that were frozen, which actually makes it incredibly easy to slice) until crispy. Then throw in shredded collard greens and stir for one minute. Add a little salt.

That's it!!!!

OK, you might be wondering how to shred collard greens, and no you don't use the grater. Just strip out the big center stem, and stack a few up at a time. Roll them up like a big cigar (or a fatty, if you wish) and slice thinly. It takes a few minutes to go through a bunch, but it's so pretty!



So yes, that's what I had for dinner last night. Roasted cauliflower, sauteed collard greens, and 1.5 extra-dry martinis. And two little tiny containers of French yogurt.

As for the sad day, my boss, Dr. S., died early yesterday morning. New readers, these are the folks I cook for--I'm a private chef in their household. He was 89, and fought the notion of death every single step of the way. More on him in another post--he needs to be properly eulogized.