When it comes to our meals, I'm very much a recipe planner but I do try to leave at least a couple of meals unplanned and let myself be inspired by things at the grocery store. This week, I picked up some gorgeous purple cauliflower to roast. Fortunately, this dish will taste exactly the same with white cauliflower so don't stress!

The mix of spices I used to roast this cauliflower do not seem like they make sense but DAMN, do they make sense. I've roasted cauliflower before with Indian curry spices but I wanted to try something a little different here. So, I started with garam masala and coriander powder. Coriander is a very light spice and has some great notes of citrus, so I tossed in my nanami togarashi; the bits of orange peel in that red pepper powder reinforced that citrus flavor really well. So, what I ended up with was something very warm, balanced with something bright. If you do want to use togarashi and not sub cayenne or paprika, you can find it at most Asian grocery stores or on Amazon. I've mentioned in previous posts that I love the Whole Foods house garam masala but if you don't live near a WF, there are a lot of options on Amazon.

Lastly, Yogurt or raitas are a classic accompaniment with a lot of spicy or warm Indian food, as is tatziki in Mediterranean food. It was a perfect addition to this dish. I had this for lunch, just by itself but it will also make a great side to pretty much any protein. Happy roasting!

Ingredients

For the cauliflower:

• 1 medium cauliflower, cut into bite-size pieces
• 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
• 1/2 tsp coriander powder
• 1/4 tsp garam masala
• 1/4 tsp nanami togarashi OR cayenne pepper
• salt to taste
• Chopped cilantro to garnish

For the yogurt sauce:

• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
• 1 clove of garlic, grated
• Juice of 1/4 lemon
• Salt & pepper to taste

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 450 F.
2. Take a large cookie sheet and pour 1 tbsp or half of the olive oil and spread it around.
3. Add the cauliflower, the rest of the oil, spices, and salt. Toss well and cook in the oven for 15 mins.
4. While the cauliflower cooks, make the yogurt sauce.
5. Plate by spreading the yogurt sauce on a plate, piling the cauliflower on top, and sprinkling with the chopped cilantro.