I knew there would come a time where I had to say “no” to the Hot Pockets or miniature pizzas.
After doing well for years of eating veggies, I got lazy and started to eat Hot Pockets, pot pies, pizzas and burritos. Suffice to say, it was unhealthy, I gained weight and I realized that I had no one to blame but myself for this.
While I became proactive in many aspects of my life, the truth is that when it came to food, I just wanted to spend less on food and buy whatever was cheap and that was in the frozen section of the local store. I wanted to come home after work, focus on my websites and microwave my food, because it was quick and easy.
But I knew I was in trouble last year when my tailored slim fit shirts were getting tight near the stomach area. And what a terrible feeling to know your favorite shirts will no longer fit.
I had to change my lifestyle and I had to eat smart, but most importantly, I’m going to have to work out, drink more water and eat more vegetables and to lay off frozen foods from here on in.
I have since lost weight, feel much better and whenever I’m feeling hungry, instead of eating something frozen that can be microwave quickly, I now roast vegetables. It’s not difficult and it does take time but I can scour the Internet on my tablets, while they roast and I flip them over occasionally and less than half an hour, they are done.
Today, I purchased a head of cauliflower and I couldn’t wait to start eating roast cauliflower. It’s easy to prepare and very tasty. Here is my recipe:
- Purchase cauliflower fresh from the market
- Purchase your favorite extra-virgin olive oil, Italian, Greek or Spanish. I prefer organic Italian olive oil, I make sure it’s made and it’s from Italy and doesn’t just say “packed” and comes in a very dark bottle. But just know that not all extra-virgin olive oil is from Italy. But if you prefer Spanish for its golden hue or Greek, by all means, go for it!
- Sea salt or kosher salt
- Ground black pepper
- You need a baking pan and tongs to flip over the florets
- Aluminum foil if you want a quick cleanup. So you line the pan with foil, otherwise, you don’t really need it.
The first thing I do is for the stove, I set to broil and set at “Hi”.
I first break apart the florets into a pan (big, medium or small pieces – whichever your preference) and then I use 4 tablespoons of extra-virgin Italian olive oil. I then season the florets with the 1/2 teaspoon of salt and as for pepper, I actually like a lot of it, but you can use 1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon.
Put it inside your oven and let it roast, while checking to make sure it has a nice combination of white and golden and flipping them over occasionally every 5-10 minutes. And around 20 minutes, they should have that nice color of golden brown. I like mine to have a little crisp, so I leave it until I see some of that brown on the florets.
Take them out and they are ready to serve and eat!
For those wondering about the difference between broiling or baking, in simplest terms, baking heats up the entire oven, while broiling, you’ll notice that the heat source is above the food, not below. Mine has this tiny little flame on the top, inside the oven. So, if your oven does the same, just be careful not to stick your hand all the way inside your oven when flipping them over. If needed, with your tongs, pull the rack closer to you if needed and flip that way.
But definitely, give different vegetables a try. You’ll love how broiling them will give the vegetables more flavor as they are crisp and tender. And it may lead you to also experimenting with fruits.
But roasting cauliflower is easy, tasty and simple!
