A cauliflower is one of the better value vegetables on the stand, and most of it gets thrown away. The leaves are edible, the stalk is the sweetest part, and boiling — the way almost everyone was taught — is the one method that makes it taste of nothing.
1. Roast it in florets
Break the head into pieces about the size of a walnut, toss with oil and salt, and roast hot for 25 minutes until the edges are properly brown. The browning is the point; pale roast cauliflower is just boiled cauliflower with extra steps.
2. Roast it whole
Trim the base, leave the jacket leaves on, rub the whole head with oil and salt, and roast covered for 40 minutes, then uncovered for another 20. It comes out as something you can carve at the table, and the outer leaves crisp like chips.
3. Grate the stalk into a slaw
The stalk is dense and sweet. Grate it with a carrot and an onion, dress it sharply, and it holds up for a day in the fridge without going limp.
4. Cook it down into a curry
Florets go into an onion and tomato base with whatever spice you have and cook until they take the sauce up. This is the method that uses a head that is a day past its best.
Buying and keeping it
Look for a tight, heavy head with the leaves still attached and no brown spotting on the curd. Store it whole in the fridge, unwashed, leaves on — they are what protect it. Wash it when you cook it, because water sitting in the curd is what turns it brown.
What is good this week
Seasonal produce, price drops and the odd recipe. One email a week, and one click to stop them.