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Easy Roasted Cauliflower

Claire Wright

Featuring:
cauliflower
Cauliflower
Effort:
Complexity:
Cost:
In season now

Serves: 4 (as a side)

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

1 head of cauliflower, cut into small florets

olive oil

salt & pepper

optional spices or herbs for flavouring: paprika, smoked paprika, ground cumin, ground coriander or mixed herbs (or have fun trying out your own favourites)

Veg Portions / Serving: 1

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Recipe created for Veg Power by Claire Wright. Food photography by Claire Wright | addsomeveg.com

Claire Wright from addsomeveg.com shares 3 simple ways to prepare cauliflower that the whole family will enjoy.

I always thought I would never enjoy cauliflower unless it was smothered in a cheese sauce. I just wasn’t that fussed about it, and the flavour bugged me. This is the way of preparing cauliflower that finally tipped me over the fence into a cauli-lover. Roasting cauliflower brings out its natural sweetness and makes it a winner with kids and adults alike.

Method:

Preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Place cauliflower florets on a baking tray and toss with a few tablespoons of olive oil. Season with salt & pepper and sprinkle over a pinch of (smoked or regular) paprika, ground cumin, ground coriander or some dried mixed herbs. Roast for 25-30 mins, until everything is soft and just catching on the edges. Serve hot as a side, or cold with a dip as a snack.

Engaging Kids

Engaging Kids

Kids who engage regularly with veg through veg-themed activities, such as arts and crafts, sensory experiences, growing and cooking are shown to be more likely to eat the veg they engage with. Encouraging kids to engage and play with veg is the handy first step to them developing a good relationship with veg and life-long healthy eating.

Kids in the kitchen

Kids in the kitchen

Let the kids break florets off the cauliflower head with their hands. Show older children how to carefully cut bigger florets with a knife. Let them toss the florets into the oil and sprinkle on the spices.

Activities

Activities

While getting kids to interact with veggies for real and using their senses to explore them is best, encouraging hands off activities like arts & crafts, puzzles & games or at-home science experiments can be a great start, particularly for those who are fussier eaters or struggle with anything too sensory. Use these veg-themed activities as a stepping stone to interacting with the veg themselves. We have loads of crafty downloads here, puzzles here, and quirky science with veg here.

Sensory

Sensory

Once you feel your child is ready to engage a little more, you can show them how to explore the veg you have on hand with their senses, coming up with playful silly descriptions of how a veg smells, feels, looks, sounds and perhaps even tastes. Find ideas, videos and some simple sensory education session ideas to get you started here.

Serving

Serving

The moments before food is offered can be a perfect opportunity for engagement that can help make it more likely a child will eat it! Giving children a sense of ownership in the meal can make a big difference to their feelings going into it and the pride they take in it. You know your child best, but if you aren’t sure where to start, we have some fun and simple ideas for easy roles you can give them in the serving process over here.

Claire Wright

Editor: After leaving Exeter University with a degree in English Literature, Claire worked in various fields ranging from youth work and charities to publishing, before starting up a food-focused website when her first child was born. After being asked to project manage the publication of Veg Power's Crowdfunder book, Claire came on board as a fully-fledged team member in 2018 to take on the role of Communications Manager, then Editor, looking after Veg Power's website, content, recipes and social media platforms.

addsomeveg.com/

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