Not really, I just love to say that. But I'll save it for the ratatouille post. Tonight I have a few roasted and grilled yummies to share.
First is grilled radicchio. Radicchio, also known as Italian chicory, is very bitter raw, but the bitterness mellows out when you roast or grill it. It's still on the bitter side, but in an appealing way. Like the girl with the interesting personality.
Grilled Radicchio with Interesting Personality
- 1 small head radicchio, outer leaves discarded
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- Few grinds of pepper mill
- 1/4 tsp dried thyme or 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
Quarter the radicchio, leaving the stem end intact because this is what holds the wedge shape. This never works for me but maybe it will for you.
Put wedges in a large bowl, toss with olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme. My friend Rob recommends tossing in bacon fat if you have some left over.
Grill 3-4 minutes per side until lightly charred. Below it's served with a quinoa salad with cucumber, tomato and feta, and would also be nice with a wild rice salad.
Next is roasted cauliflower. I fell in love with this method from Molly Wizenburg's A Homemade Life, which calls for slicing the cauliflower straight across lengthwise.
Molly's Lengthwise Cauliflower
- 1 head cauliflower, leaves trimmed but leave stem intact (just trim the nastiest part of the end off)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- Few grinds of pepper mill
Preheat oven to 425
Slice cauliflower lengthwise about 1/4" wide. You're only going to get two, maybe three slices that end up looking like this:
The rest will just look like small, flat cauliflower florets but that's OK.
Put all the slices into a large bowl. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper, turning carefully to coat so you don't break up the nice, big flatties. Place on baking sheet, spreading evenly and as flat as possible—you want as much surface area as possible to caramelize as it roasts.
Roast 20-25 minutes, flipping pieces halfway through, until golden brown. Below we have some lengthwise cauliflower served over coconut rice and beans and jicama slaw. A spectacular Meatless Monday Meal if you are so inclined.
