Spiced Roasted Cauliflower With Feta And Pomegranate

The days are long in work and I need to start focusing on fighting the germs and head colds brought on by that horribly fast changing weather. This means that, in the evenings, I try to cook kind dinners. What are those kind dinners you ask? They are meals that aim to be both good and good for you. I want them to be balanced and nutritious and full of flavour. I get bored of repetitve meals very quickly and this roasted cauliflower dish is a welcome addition to my culinary repertoire. 

It takes very little preparation and leaves you satisfied. It will fill you up but you won’t feel sluggish and I find cauliflower is particularly handy when you try to eat less meat. It has flavour and a good consistency.  The feta in this dish adds a welcome salty tang and the pomegranate seeds offer a fresh crunch which works very well against the smokey savouriness of the roasted garlic cloves. 

Although it is easy to prepare, this dish is not always the quickest to make as the cauliflower can take up to 50 min to cook depending on your oven and your taste in vegetables.   I’m still trying to learn my new oven functions and it tends to take a little longer than previous ovens would have done in order to cook the cauliflower.   The good news is that you can roast it in advance and simply reheat it to just about room temperature before serving it as a warm salad.   This dish is also excellent cold and makes for a very handy and tasty lunch. 

Ingredients 

• 1 head of cauliflower
• 1/2 of a garlic bulb
• 1 packet of feta
• 1 bunch of scallions
• 1/2 pomegranate
• 1 table spoon of fennugreek powder
• salt, pepper and olive oil

Method

• Place the cauliflower in a tray with the garlic (leave the cloves whole and unpeeled), drizzle the olive oil and season with the salt, pepper and fennugreek powder. 
• Heat the oven up to the usual 180 C and cook the cauliflower until it slightly soft and browned around some parts (see photo). Ideally, just cook it to your liking. I like mine with some bite left in it. 
• When it’s out of the oven and cooled down, toss the feta and pomegranate seed and sprinkle with chopped scallions. 

I had no fresh herbs to hand but I suspect a few mint leaves roughly shredded on top would be delicious.  Alternatively, why not try my za’atar cauliflower ?