Get ready to ‘caul’ this dish a part of dinner

One of the things they don’t tell you about getting married is that it will change your diet.

When we got married, Joey had to give up eating tomatoes as often as he’d like because I’m allergic to them and have to watch my intake if I don’t want to suffer from hives afterward.

I gave up eating a lot of my favorite vegetables, because Joey’s list of preferred veggies is a bit shorter than mine. So I was excited recently when I was on my own for dinner, and I could make whatever I wanted to eat. Of course, what is a girl to do in such a situation than to break out the cauliflower?

OK, so I’m probably alone in that, but I’m guessing I’m not the only one who likes it. So if you’re in my camp, or if you’d like to try to recruit someone else into the cauliflower lovers club with a good recipe, then I have the one for you.

I found this recipe on a blog called “Healthy Recipes.” You can find the original at http://healthyrecipesblogs.com/2014/12/10/baked-cauliflower/. I added mozzarella to my version.

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Cheesy Baked Cauliflower

Ingredients

1 head cauliflower

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon paprika

salt to taste

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella

1/2 cup grated parmesan (or just add more mozzarella)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Wash the cauliflower and separate it into florets (chop up the stems, too, if you like).

Combine cauliflower, oil, pepper, garlic powder, paprika and salt in a 9×13-inch pan, and stir to make sure everything is well-coated. Spread the mixture evenly in the pan, then sprinkle the cheese over the top.

Bake for 15 minutes and stir the contents.

Bake for another 15 minutes or until the cauliflower is beginning to brown nicely.

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I really enjoyed this recipe. I actually used garlic salt instead of garlic powder and salt, and it turned out well. Also, if you don’t want your cauliflower to have any crunch to it, keep your florets on the small side. The bigger florets in mine didn’t get soft all the way through, but they were still really good.

This also reheated really well out of the fridge, so I got to enjoy this several times throughout the week.

Plus, the side benefit of making baked cauliflower is that I kept it all to myself. I’m all about sharing with Joey, but sometimes, at least when it comes to my favorite vegetables, it’s nice to be a bit selfish.

Lindsey Young is managing editor of The Clarion, the Kansas Publishing Ventures newspaper in Andale. She can be reached at lindseyclarion@gmail.com.

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